^  tut  lM%ra|  ^^^. 


PRINCETON,    N.    J. 


% 


et^o7^ 


'BV  125  .L4  1886  ^ 

Lewis,  Abram  Herbert,  1836- 
1908. 
5^.//.   A  critical  history  of  the 
Sabbath  and  the  Sunday  in 


«^  .^ 


r»%^ 


,.      ".■•■-         4V1    .     .■■ 


'  l>         < 


^4 


Sz- 


mu^j-'.^ 


^■^'v*;..*,--' 


/ 


I  CRITICAL  HISTORY 


OF 


W  SAEBAIi  Aill  let  SiBH 


IN   THE 


CHRISTIAN    CHURCH 
BY  A.  H.  LEWIS,  D.  D., 


Author  of  ''Sabbath  and  Sunday  ;  Argument  and  Hutcn-y, 
"  Biblical   Teachings   Concerning  the  Sabbath  and  the 
Svnday  ;  "  Editor  of  "  The  Outlook,  and  Sabbath 
Quarterly,''  and  of  "  The  Light  of  Home.'" 


THE  AMERICAN  SABBATH  TRACT  SOCIETY, 

Alfred  Centre,  N.  Y. 

1886. 


CoPYKiGHT,  1886,  BY  A.  H.  Lbwis. 


PREFACE 


Questions,  like  apples,  have  their  time  to  ripen. 
When  they  are  ripe,  the  harvest  must  be  gathered. 
Wishing  cannot  hasten  this  time,  nor  fear  delay  it. 
The  Sabbath  question  is  ripe  for  re-examination  and 
restatement.  It  is  at  the  front.  It  has  come  to  stay. 
We  and  our  children  must  grapple  with  the  prob- 
lem. The  first  key  to  its  solution  is  the  authority  of 
God's  Word,  the  Bible.  The  facts  of  history  form 
the  second  key.  Time  itself  is  an  attribute  of  God. 
The  aggregate  results  in  history  are  the  decisions  of 
God.  In  testing  theories  and  practices,  the  historic 
argument  is  ultimate.  It  is  the  embodiment  of 
Christ's  words:  "By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know 
them."  Tlieorizing  can  never  go  back  of  this  test, 
nor  set  aside  its  decisions. 

No  department  of  church  history  has  been  less 
thoroughly  worked  than  the  history  of  the  Sabbath 
and  the  Sunday.  They  both  antedate  Christianity 
and  Judaism.  Their  fountains  are  back  of  Calvary 
and  Sinai.     The  chief  interest  centers  in  the  New 


lY  PREFACfi. 

Testament,  and  in  the  Patristic  period.  The  former 
is  usually  treated  polemically,  while  the  latter  is  al- 
most an  unknown  region  to  the  average  Christian. 
Few,  at  the  present  time,  have  more  than  a  confused 
knowledge  of  the  Sabbath  question  since  the  Puri- 
tan movement  of  three  hundred  years  ago.  That 
movement  has  been  forced  to  seek  some  support  for 
itself  in  early  church  history.  In  seeking  this, 
many  quotations  have  been  claimed  from  the  Fathers, 
which  subsequent  investigations  have  shown  to  be 
notoriously  incorrect.  These  have  been  passed  from 
hand  to  hand,  apparently  without  examination  or 
question.  Forged  writings  have  been  treated  as 
genuine.  Unknown  dates  have  been  assumed  to  be 
definite.  Important  expressions,  such  as  "Chris- 
tian Sabbath  "  and  "  Dominicum  servasti,"  have  been 
manufactured  and  interpolated.  In  this  way  facts 
have  been  perverted,  or  withheld,  and  good  men 
have  been  misled.  Few  American  writers  have  at- 
tempted any  careful  survey  of  this  field,  and  the 
most  valuable  European  works  are  out  of  print. 
Most  of  the  books  in  defense  of  Sunday,  within  the 
last  fifty  years,  have  been  hastily  written  to  meet 
the  demands  of  some  convention,  or  some  emergen- 
cy in  the  decline  of  the  Puritan  theory,  and  the  sec- 
ularization of  the  ' '  Anglo-American  Sabbath. "    This 


PERFACE;  Y 

has  forbidden  patient  and  efficient  original  research. 

Still  stronger  reasons  have  sat  at  the  elbow  of 
every  writer  in  defense  of  the  Puritan,  or  the  Anglo- 
American  Sunday.  The  facts  of  the  first  four  cent- 
uries destroy  the  foundation  on  which  Puritanism 
rested  its  "  Sunday  Sabbath."  We  express  no  judg- 
ment concerning  the  men  who  have  written  thus  im- 
perfectly. The  difficulty  of  obtaining  the  facts,  and 
the  seeming  necessity  of  saving  Christian  worship, 
by  attempting  to  save  the  Sunday,  have  been  pow- 
erful causes.     We  only  state  the  facts. 

Because  these  things  are  so,  this  book  has  been 
written.  It  is  the  product  of  twenty  years  search. 
It  is  written  in  the  interest  of  the  church  universal, 
and  of  the  preservation  of  the  Sabbath,  without 
which  Christianity  is  shorn  of  one  of  its  chief  ele- 
ments of  power,  and  humanity  is  robbed  of  one  of 
its  chief  blessings.  We  have  given  our  authorities, 
willing  to  burden  our  pages  with  copious  references, 
that  who  will  may  follow,  and  test  our  work.  As 
these  pages  are  not  the  product  of  yesterday,  so  they 
are  not  written  for  to-morrow  alone.  We  know  full 
well  that  they  must  make  their  way  against  the 
prejudice  of  creed  and  the  power  of  popular  cus- 
tom. We  know  they  must  take  their  way,  with  all 
else,  l)etween  the  upper  and  nether  millstones    of 


VI  PREFACE. 

eternal  verities.  Nothing  less  than  sifted  facts  can 
abide  as  the  foundation  for  hope,  or  faith,  or  practice. 
Men  build  pleasant  theories  and  indulge  in  beauteous 
fancies  concerning  what  they  think  ought  to  be,  but 
the  relentless  hand  of  history  gathers  all  which  is  not 
in  accord  with  eternal  verity,  for  the  dust  heap  of 
the  past. 

Conscious  that  every  page  must  die  which  is  not 
born  of  verity,  and  equally  conscious  that  every  page 
thus  born  will  live  in  spite  of  creed  or  custom,  this 
book  goes  forth,  willing  to  await  the  broader  knowl- 
edge and  the  calmer  judgment  of  coming  years. 

A.  H.  L. 

Plainfield,  N.  J.,  February,  1886. 


LONTENTS. 


Chapter  I.     Introductory. 

Chapter  II.  History  of  the  Sabbath  in  the  Gos- 
pels. 

Chapter  III.  History  of  the  Sunday  in  the  Gos- 
pels. 

Chapter  IV.  History  of  the  Sabbath  in  the  Book 
of  Acts. 

Chapter  V.  History  of  the  Sunday  in  the  Book 
of  Acts. 

Chapter  YI.     The  Apostolic  Fathers. 

Chapter  VII.  Pliny's  Letter  to  Trajan,  and  a  Fa- 
mous Falsehood. 

Chapter  VIII.  Justin  Martyr  ;  the  First  Refer- 
ence to  Sunday  ;  and  the  Rise  of  No-sabbath- 
ism. 

Chapter  IX.  Other  Writers,  and  the  Develop- 
ment of  No-sabbathism. 

Chapter  X.     Tertullian  and  his  Followers. 

Chapter  XI.     Wednesday  and  Friday  as  Fasts. 

Chapter  XII.  Post-Apostolic  History  of  the  Sab- 
bath, to  the  Fourth  Century. 

Chapter  XIII.  Constantine  the  Grjat,  and  the  be- 
ginning of  Legislation. 


Vlll  CONTENTS. 

Chapter  XIV.     Sunday  from  the   time  of    Con- 
stantine  to  the  close  of  the  Fifth   Century. 

Chapter  XV.     Sunday  in  the  Church  Councils. 

Chapter  XVI.     The  Sabbath  from  Constantine  to 
the  Dark  Ages. 

Chapter  XVII.     Sunday  during  the  Dark  Ages. 

Chapter  XVIII,      The  Sabbath  in   the  Western 
Church  during  the  Dark  Ages. 

Chapter    XIX.      The    Sabbath    in    the   Eastern 
Church. 

Chapter  XX.     Sunday  in  the  German  Reforma- 
tion. 

Chapter  XXI.     Sunday    in  the    Swiss  Reforma- 
tion. 

Chapter  XXII.     Sunday  in  the  English  Reforma- 
tion. 

Chapter  XXIII.     Puritanism  and  the  Sunday  in   >i   U  V 
England. 

Chapter  XXIV.     The  Sabbath  in  Europe  since  the 
Reformation. 

Chapter  XXV.     The  Sunday  in  America;  Colo-  rlrC 
nial  Period.  />  74"  > 

Chapter  XXVI.     The  Sabbath  in  America.  r   3  C  C 

Chapter  XXVII.     Sunday  in  the  Creeds  of  theP'f<^5" 
Churches. 

Chapter  XXVIII.     Observance  of  Sunday  in  the    Pf"', 
Uflited  States. 

Chapter  XXIX.     Elements  of  Agitation  now  at  p  ^b 
work  in  the  United  States.  ^ 

Chapter  XXX.     The  Verdict  of  History.  P  ^« 


CHAPTER  I. 

Introductory. 

History  is  an  organic  dcvelopmont.  The  plionom- 
ona  which  appear  on  the  surface,  are  the  result  of 
underlying  principles,  true,  or  false.  Nothing  in 
history  conies  by  chance.  If  human  choices  did 
not  lead  men  to  disobedience  of  'God's  laws,  and  to 
a  disregard  for  truth,  there  would  lie  no  discord,  but 
rather  a  continuous,  straightforward  advancement. 
What  men  call  the  "  power  of  truth,"  "  the  logic  of 
events,"  and  the  "guiding  hand  of  Providence,"  is 
but  another  way  of  stiymg  that  truth,  God's  ideas, 
his  eternal  laws  (;oncerning  right  and  wrong,  are 
stronger  than  any  or  all  human  choices  and  will  ulti- 
mately prevail.  It  is  the  unfolding  of  God's  ideas  in 
history  that  gives  to  it  organic  power  and  irresistible 
force.  Human  disobedience,  designed  or  undesigned, 
may  check  or  deflect  the  progress  of  truth.  This  is 
always  possible  where  freedom  of  choice  is  granted 
to  the  tinite  intelligence,  under  the  general  limitation 
of  the  Infinite.  All  such  checking  or  deflection 
must  be  temporary.  Disobedience  is  the  conflict  of 
the  less  with  the  greater.  It  may  go  so  far  as  to  de- 
stroy the  less,  as  an  individual,  but  it  can  never  at- 


2  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

tain  a  permanent  triumph  in  the  general  field  of 
moral  government.  It  is  the  dam  of  rushes  across 
the  swollen  stream;  the  barricade  of  straw  Ufore 
the  locomotive.  Evil  and  error  have  thus  limited 
lease  of  life.  "Truth  is  mighty  and  will  prevail,'' 
is  an  adage  which  voices  the  deeper  philosophy  of 
history.  Every  page  of  the  past  is  filled  with  con- 
firmation  of  this  general  truth.  The  invisible  hand 
of  Jehovah  touches  the  current  of  evil  and  it  flows 
backward  like  the  parting  waters  of  the  Red  Sea. 
As  the  granite  sea  wall[says  to  the  waves,  "  Thus  far 
and  no  farther,"  so,  in  the  fullness  of  God's  own 
time,  right  and  righteousness  prevail.  The  times 
when  God  thus  vindicates  himself  and  his  cause  we 
call  great  epochs  in  history.  But  the  greatest  epoch 
is  only  the  result  of  silent  forces  which  arc  constant- 
ly at  work.  The  currents  of  influence,  good  or  bad, 
often  run  deep,  are  sometimes  wholly  out  of  sight 
for  a  long  time.  The  thoughtless  and  faint-hearted 
Bay,  "They  are  gone  forever."  Those  who  listen 
more  carefully,  are  always  assured  that  God  still 
lives. 

In  view  of  these  truths,  the  history  of  a  great 
question,  like  that  of  w^hich  the  following  pages 
treat,  is  of  vital  importance.  We  can  never  judge 
correctly  of  the  present  except  in  the  light  of  the 
past.  To-day  is  the  product  of  one  or  all  of  the 
days  that  have  gone  before.  Things'  are  neither 
right  nor  wrong  because  they  are.  Human  majori- 
ties, as  such,  are  not  right.  They  are  likely  to  be 
thoughtless  and  self-reliant,  and  hence  wrong. 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  3 

The  Sabbath  question  has  had  a  prominent  place 
in  the  religious  history  of  our  race.  The  week, 
measured  by  the  Sabbath  as  its  closing  day,  is  the 
oldest  division  of  time.  It  is  found  wherever  histo- 
ry reaches.  The  question  comes  closer  to  human 
life  than  any  other  so-called  practical  question.  So- 
cial life,  business  life,  religious  worship  and  culture 
are  all  blended  with  it,  and  are  dependent  on  it.  It  is 
a  question  that  has  never  been  kept  in  abeyance,  for 
any  great  length  of  time,  however  much  it  may  have 
been  ignored.  It  was  prominent  in  the  Jewish 
Church  and  State.  It  claimed  early  attention  in  the 
history  of  Christianity.  It  came  to  the  front  in  the 
Reformation.  It  was  a  central  figure  in  our  own 
early  national  history.  It  is  to-day,  though  much 
ignored  by  some,  and  treated  vigorously  with  nar- 
cotics by  others,  one  of  the  "burning  questions" 
which  still  demands  recognition  and  solution.  The 
real  history  of  the  Sabbath  question  is  not  well  un- 
derstood. The  earlier  centuries  have  not  been  care- 
fully explored  by  the  masses,  or  even  by  the  relig- 
ious teachers.  Much  has  been  taken  for  granted, 
where  the  facts  are  unknown.  Under  such  circum- 
stances, the  writer  is  glad  to  lay  before  the  reader 
the  results  of  twenty  years  careful  investigation  in 
the  field  of  Sabbath  history.  He  only  asks  that  the 
final  judgment  of  the  reader  be  founded  not  upon 
the  opinions  or  suppositions  with  which  he  comes  to 
the  perusal  of  these  pages,  but  upon  the  facts  pre- 
sented. The  ultimate  facts  in  the  whole  field  will 
appear,  and  be  marshaled.     The  issue  may  be  dc- 


4  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAT. 

layed,  but  cannot  be  avoided.  These  pages  arc 
sent  forth,  prayerfully,  to  contribute  their  part  to- 
ward the  final  settlement  of  the  question.  The  per- 
sonal opinions  of  the  author  appear  in  the  last  chap- 
tT,  the  "Verdict  of  History." 


CHAPTER  II.       ' 

WiSTORY    OF     THE    JSaBBATH    IN 

THE  New  Testament. 

THE   GOSPELS. 

The  Bible  is  the  ultimate  authority  upon  the  Sab- 
bath question.  The  facts  therein  form  the  source  of 
obligation,  and  of  history.  It  is  therefore  pertinent 
to  begin  our  historic  investigation  by  placing  before 
the  reader  whatever  of  history  there  is  in  that  book 
which  is  the  Christian's  especial  charter.  Sabbath- 
keeping  is  a  matter  of  doing,  rather  than  of  theoriz- 
ing; hence  the  history  we  seek  must  be  found  in 
what  Christ  and  his  apostles  did,  more  than  in  what 
they  said.  If  either  the  Sabbath  or  the  Sunday  has 
a  history  in  the  New  Testament  it  will  be  found  in 
the  actions  and  customs  of  Christ  and  his  apostles. 
Before  examining  the  record  of  these  actions  it  is 
well  to  remember  some  important  facts,  which,  be- 
ing disregarded,  lead  to  wrong  conclusions,  since  we 
thus  fail  to  consider  the  circumstances  under  which 
Christ  spoke  and  acted.     These  facts  are: 

(i)  During  the  centuries  immediately  preceding 
Christ's  coming.  Sabbath-keeping  had  become  a 
prominent  mark  of  distinction  between  the  Jews  and 
the  surrounding  nations.     It  was  a  peculiar  "  sign  " 


6  RAiniATII    AND    HUNDA  Y. 

of  loyally   toward   Johovali,    and  became  a  diatin- 
gulHhlng  mark  of  (ixcluHivoncsH. 

(2)  Ah  their  Hpirltuality  decreased,  unscriptural 
fonnallsm  inereaHed,  and  HJnce  8al)l)ath-keepinggavo 
a  wide  ll(!id  for  acting  or  not  acting,  tlu;  Sabbath  be 
camk  Ihc  central  [Igurc;  in  their  formalism.  It  wa« 
the  Htronghold  of  IMiariseeiHm.  And  .since  Christ'H 
niiHsion  was  to  nimove  rubbish  and  restore;  (iods  law 
to  its  primitive!  purity,  while  he  fuHilhid  it  by  a  sin- 
lesH  obedience!,  the  Sabbath  was  a  neicessary  point  of 
controversy.  KenKMubering,  then,  that  (/hri.st's  aim 
waH  not  the  destruction  or  removal  of  the  Sabbath, 
but  rather  to  set  it  free  from  Judaistic  taint  and  mis- 
conexiptloii,  we  Hhall  be  able  to  comprehend  the  real 
nftt»ire  of  the  incide^nts  which  form  ils  history  in  tho 
Gospels.  Taking  up  these  incidcjnts  in  their  order, 
we  come  lirst  to  the  following : 

*'  At  (hat  time  Jesus  went  on  (he  Sabbath  dav 
througli  (he  corn,  tiiid  his  disciples  were  a  hungered, 
and  began  to  plueU  IJje  ears  of  corn,  and  to  eat.  Hut 
when  \\w  Pharisees  saw  it,  they  said  unto  him.  Bo- 
hold,  thy  disciples  do  (h:i(  which  is  not  lawful  to  do 
upon  the  Sabbjitii  (l:iy.  Hut  he  s.iid  unto  them, 
Ilave  ye  not  reail  what  David  did  when  ]h)  was  a 
hungered,  and  they  that  were  with  him.  How  ho 
e-nlcred  into  tiie  house  of  (Jod.  and  did  Ciit  tlu;  shew- 
ln'cad,  which  was  not  lawful  for  him  to  eat,  neither 
for  them  which  were  with  him,  but  only  for  the 
priests?  Or  have  ye  not  rend  in  the  law  how  (hat  on 
(h(^  Sabba(h(l}iys  (he  prles(s  in  the  (emple  profane 
the  Sabb:ith,  and  are  blameless?  Hut  1  say  unto  you, 
that  ill  this  pine**  is  «>//^' greater  than  (lie  (em|)le.  Hut 
if  ye  hM<l  known  what  ////.-<  iiie;inetli.  1  will  have 
.mercy,  .mikI  not   s.-ieritlee,    ye  wouhl    not    hjive   con- 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  7 

demned  the  i^iiiltloss.  For  the  Son  of  man  is  Lord 
even  of  tho  Sabbat li-day.  And  when  he  was  depart- 
ed thence,  he  went  into  their  syna;i-ogue.  And  be- 
hold, there  was  a  man  whu-h  had  /lis  liand  withered. 
And  they  asked  liim,  sayini;,  Is  it  lawful  to  Ileal  on 
the  Sabbatli-days?  that  they  mi.i;ht  accuse  him.  And 
he  said  unto  them,  What  man  sliall  there  be  amonij; 
you,  that  shall  have  one  sheep,  and  if  it  fall  into  a 
pit  on  the  Sabbath  day,  will  lie  not  lay  hohl  on  it, 
and  lift  it  out?  How  mu(;h  then  is  a  man  better  than 
a  sheep?  Wherefore  it  is  lawful  to  do  well  on  the 
Sdbbath-dayH.  Then  saith  he  to  the  man,  Stretch 
forth  thine  hand.  And  he  stretched  it  forth  :  and  it 
was  restored  whole,  like  as  tlie  other."* 

Here  wo  have  two  incidents  occurring,  pro])ably, 
on  successive  Sabbaths,  whicli  illustrate  two  import- 
ant points:  works  of  necessity,  and  works  of  mercy. 
There  is  nothing  i»i  Christ's  acts  or  teachings  which 
ev(Mi  intimate  that  he  designed  to  abolish  the  Sab- 
bath, or  to  disregard  it.  On  the  contrary  it  is  fully 
recognized  as  a  day  of  rest  and  worship,  but  not  a 
day  of  false  and  burdensome  restrictions. 

The  paralkil  accounts  of  these  incidents,  as  given 
by  Mark  and  Luke,  differ  in  some  i)()ints,  but  in 
nothing  essential.  Mark  writes  as  follows,  concern- 
ing the  second  event : 

"And  it  came  to  jiass,  that  he  went  through  the 
corn  lields  on  the  Sabbath-day;  and  his  disciples  be- 
gan, as  they  went,  to  pluck  the  ears  of  corn.  And 
the  Pharisees  said  unto  him,  Behold,  why  do  they 
on  the  Siibbath-day  that  which  is  not  lawful?  And 
he  said  unto  tiiem,  Have  ye  never  read  wliat  David 
did,  wluui  he  had  need,  and  was  a  hungered,  he  and 


*  Matt.  12 :  1-13. 


8  SABBATH    AND   SUNDAY. 

they  that  were  with  him  ?  How  he  went  into  the 
house  of  God,  in  the  days  of  Abiathar  the  high 
prici^t,  and  did  eat  the  shew-bread.  which  is  not  law- 
ful to  eat,  but  for  the  priests,  and  gave  also  to  them 
which  were  with  him?  And  he  said  unto  them,  The 
Sabbath  was  made  for  man,  and  not  man  for  the 
Sabbath.  Therefore,  the  Son  of  man  is  Lord  also 
of  the  Sabbath."* 

Luke's  history  is  in  these  words : 

"  And  it  came  to  pass  on  the  second  Sabbath  after 
the  first,  that  he  went  through  the  corn  fields  ;  and 
his  disciples  plucked  the  ears  of  corn,  and  did  eat, 
rubbing  tJiem  in  their  hands.  And  certain  of  the 
Pharisees  said  unto  them,  Why  do  ye  that  which  is 
not  lawful  to  do  on  the  Sabbath-days?  And  Jesus 
answering  them,  said,  Have  ye  not  read  so  much  as 
this,  what  David  did,  when  himself  was  a  hungered, 
and  they  which  were  with  him;  how  he  went  into 
the  house  of  God,  and  did  take  and  eat  the  shew- 
bread,  and  gave  also  to  them  that  were  with  him, 
which  it  is  not  lawful  to  eat  but  for  the  priests  alone? 
And  he  said  unto  them.  That  the  Son  of  man  is 
Lord  also  of  the  Sabbath.  And  it  came  to  pass  also 
on  another  Sabbath,  that  he  entered  into  the  syna- 
gogue, and  taught,  and  there  was  a  man  whose  right 
hand  was  withered:  And  the  scribes  and  Pharisees 
watched  him,  whether  he  would  heal  on  the  Sabbath- 
day;  that  they  might  find  an  accusation  against  him. 
But  he  knew  their  thoughts,  and  said  to  the  man 
which  had  the  withered  "hand.  Rise  up,  and  stand 
forth  in  the  midst.  And  he  arose,  and  stood  forth. 
Then  said  Jesus  unto  them,  I  will  ask  you  one  thing: 
Is  it  lawful  on  the  Sabbath  days  to  do  good,  or  to  do 
evil?  to  save  life,  or  to  destroy  it?  And  looking 
round  about  upon  them  all,  he  said  unto  the  man. 
Stretch   forth   thy  hand.     And  he  did  so :  and  his 

*  Mark  2 :  2.3-28. 


SABBATH    AND   SUNDAY.  9 

hand  was  restored  whole  as  the  other.  And  they 
were  filled  with  madness  ;  and  communed  one  with 
another  what  they  might  do  to  Jesus."* 

A  careful  comparing  of  these  three  accounts  shows 
that  they  agree  perfectly  in  the  fact  that  Christ's  ac 
tions  and  words  are  all  aimed  at  the  false  notions, 
and  extravagant  claims  made  by  the  Pharisees,  and 
not  at  the  Sabbath.  They  form  the  clear  starting 
point  of  the  history  of  the  Sabbath  in  the  New  Tes- 
tament, as  an  institution  honored  by  Christ,  and  by 
him  shorn  of  false  notions,  that  it  might  be  brought 
into  accord  with  his  Christian  dispensation. 

The  history  of  Christ's  life,  as  given  by  Mark,- 
notes  first  a  Sabbath  scene  in  Capernaum: 

"  And  they  went  into  Capernaum  ;  and  straight- 
way on  the  Sabbath-day  he  entered  into  the  syna- 
gogue and  taught.  And  they  were  astonished  at 
his  doctrine;  for  he  taught  them  as  one  that  had 
authority  and  not  as  the  scribes.  And  there  was  in 
their  synagogue  a  man  with  an  unclean  spirit  ;  and 
he  cried  out,  saying.  Let  vs  alone  :  what  have  we  to 
do  with  thee,  thou  Jesus  of  Nazareth  ?  art  thou 
come  to  destroy  us?  I  know  thee  who  thou  art,  the 
Holy  One  of  God.  And  Jesus  rebuked  him,  saying, 
Hold  thy  peace  and  come  out  of  him.  And  when 
the  unclean  spirit  had  torn  him,  and  cried  with  a 
loud  voice,  he  came  out  of  him.''f 

Luke  tells  of  this  occurrence  in  these  words  : 

"  But  he  passing  through  the  midst  of  them  went 
his  way,  and  came  down  to  Capernaum,  a  city  of 
Galilee,"^  and  taught  them  on  the  Sabbath-days.  And 
they  were  astonished  at  his  doctrine :  for  his   word 

*  Luke  6  :  1-11.    t  Mark  1 :  21-26. 


10  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

was  ■with  power.  And  in  the  synagogue  there  was 
a  man  which  had  a  spirit  of  an  unclean  devil,  and 
cried  out  with  a  loud  voice,  saying.  Let  us  alone; 
what  have  we  to  do  with  thee,  thou  Jesus  of  Nazareth? 
art  thou  come  to  destroy  us  ?  I  know  thee  who 
thou  art,  the  Holy  One  of  God.  And  Jesus  re- 
buked him,  saying.  Hold  thy  peace,  and  come  out 
of  him.  And  when  the  devil  had  thrown  him  in  the 
midst,  he  came  out  of  him,  and  hurt  him  not."* 

Christ's  liabit  of  preaching  on  the  Sabbath  is  told 
by  Luke  as  follows  : 

"  And  Jesus  returned  in  the  power  of  the  Spirit 
into  Galilee  :  and  there  went  out  a  fame  of  him 
through  all  the  region  round  about.  And  he  taught 
in  their  synagogues,  being  glorified  of  all.  And  he 
came  to  Xazaretli,  where  he  had  been  brought  up  : 
and,  as  hi^s  custom  was,  he  went  into  the  synagogue 
on  the  Sabbath-day,  and  stood  up  for  to  read.  And 
there  was  delivered  unto  him  the  book  of  the  proph- 
et Esaias.  And  when  he  had  opened  the  book,  he 
found  the  place  where  it  was  written.  The  Spirit  of 
the  Lord  w  upon  me,  because  he  hath  anointed  me 
to  preach  the  gospel  to  the  poor;  he  hath  sent  me  to 
heal  the  broken-hearted,  to  preach  deliverance  to 
the  captives,  and  recovering  of  sight  to  the  blind,  to 
set  at  liberty  them  that  are  bruised,  to  preach  the 
acceptable  year  of  the  Lord.  And  he  closed  the 
book,  and  he  gave  it  again  to  the  minister,  and  sat 
down.  And  the  eyes  ot%Ul  them  that  were  in  the  syna- 
gogue were  fastened  on  him.  And  he  began  to  say 
unlo  them.  This  day  is  this  scripture  fulfilled  in 
your  ears.  And  all  bare  him  witness,  and  wondered 
at  the  gracious  words  which  proceeded  out  of  his 
mouth,  "f 

The  following  is  a  similar  instance  : 

"  And  when  the  Sabbath-day  was  come,  he  began 
*  Luke  4  :  30-35.    t  Luke  4  :  14-22. 


SABBATH    AND   SUNDAY.  11 

to  teach  in  the  synagogue  ;  and  many  hearing  him 
were  astonished,  saying,  From  whence  hath  this 
man  these  things;  and  what  wisdom  is  this  which  is 
given  unto  him,  that  even  such  mighty  works  are 
wrought  by  his  hands  ?"* 

It  will  be  seen  that  Christ  was  accustomed  to  unit© 
works  of  mercy  with  his  teaching  and  worship  at 
the  Sabbath  services. 

Luke  gives  another  instance  as  follows  ; 

"And  he  was  teaching  in  one  of  the  synagogues 
on  the  Sabbath.  And  behold,  there  was  a  woman 
which  had  a  spirit  of  infirmity  eighteen  years,  and 
was  bowed  together,  and  could  in  no  wise  lift  up 
herself.  And  when  Jesus  saw  her,  he  called  lier  to 
him,  and  said  unto  her,  Woman,  thou  art  loosed 
from  thine  infirmity.  And  he  laid  his  hands  on  her: 
and  immediately  she  was  made  straight,  and  glori- 
fied God.  And  the  ruler  of  the  synagogue  an- 
swered with  indignation,  because  that  Jesus  had 
healed  on  the  Sabl)ath-day.  and  said  unto  the  peo- 
ple, There  are  six  days  in  which  men  ought  to  work: 
in  them  therefore  come  and  be  healed,  and  not  on 
the  Sabbath-day.  The  Lord  then  answered  him, 
and  said.  Thoy  hypocrite,  doth  not  each  one  of  you 
on  the  Sabbath  loose  his  ox  or  his  ass  from  the  stall, 
and  lead  him  away  to  watering  ?  And  ought  not 
this  woman,  l)eing  a  daughter  of  Abraham,  whom 
Satan  hath  bound,  lo,  these  eighteen  years,  be  loosed 
from  this  bond  on  the  Sabbath-day  ?  And  when  he 
had  said  these  things,  all  his  adversaries  were 
ashamed  :  and  all  the  people  rejoiced  for  all  the  glo- 
rious things  that  were  done  by  him."f 

John  recounts  a  scene  in  which  the  Jews  were  es- 
pecially enraged  because  Christ  commanded  a  healed 

*  Mark  6  :  2.    t  Luke  13 :  10-17. 


12  SABBATH    AND   SUNDAY. 

man  to  carry  his  mattress  with  him  after  he  was 
healed : 

"And  a  certain  man  was  ihere,  which  had  an  in- 
firmity thirty  and  eight  years.  When  Jesus  saw 
him  lie,  and  knew  that  he  had  been  now  a  long  time 
in  that  case,  he  saith  unto  him,  Wilt  thou  be  made 
whole  ?  The  impotent  man  answered  him,  Sir,  I 
have  no  man,  when  the  water  is  troubled,  to  put  me 
iuto  the  pool  :  but  while  I  am  coming,  another  step- 
peth  down  before  me.  Jesus  saith  unto  him,  Rise, 
take  up  thy  bed,  and  walk.  And  immediately  the 
man  was  made  whole,  and  tcok  up  his  bed,  and 
walked  :  and  on  the  same  day  was  the  Sabbath. 
The  Jews  therefore  said  unto  him  that  was  cured, 
It  is  the  Sabbath-day;  it  is  not  lawful  for  thee  to 
carry  thy  bed.  He  answered  them,  He  that  made 
me  whole,  the  same  said  unto  me.  Take  up  thy  bed, 
and  walk.  Then  asked  they  him,  What  man  is 
that  which  said  unto  thee,  Take  up  thy  bed  and 
walk  ?  And  he  that  was  healed  wist  not  who  it 
was  :  for  Jesus  had  conveyed  himself  away,  a  mul- 
titude being  in  that  place.  Afterward  Jesus  findeth 
him  in  the  temple,  and  said  unto  him.  Behold,  thou 
art  made  whole  :  sin  no  more,  lest  a  w^orse  thing 
come  unto  thee.  The  man  departed,  and  told  the 
Jews  that  it  was  Jesus  which  had  made  him  whole. 
And  therefore  did  the  Jews  persecute  Jesus,  and 
sought  to  slay  him,  because  he  had  done  these 
things  on  the  Sabbath-day.  But  Jesus  answered 
them,  My  Father  worketh  hitherto,  and  I  work. 
Therefoie  the  Jews  sought  the  more  to  kill  him, 
because  he  not  only  had  broken  the  Sabbath,  but 
said  also,  that  God  was  his  Father,  making  himself 
equal  with  God."* 

On  another  occasion  at  a  temple  service,  Christ 
*  John  5:  5-18. 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  13 

defends  his  acts  with  reference  to  the  Sabl)alh,  from 
the  custom  of  the  Jews  concerning  the  rite  of  cir- 
cumcision.    Speaking  in  the  temple,  he  said  : 

"Did  not  Moses  give  you  the  hiw,  and  yet  none 
of  you  keepeth  the  law  ?  Why  go  ye  about  to  kill 
me  ?  The  people  answered  and  said,  Thou  hast  a 
devil  :  who  goeth  about  to  kill  thee  ?  Jesus  an- 
swered and  said  unto  them,  I  have  done  one  work, 
and  ye  all  marvel.  Moses  therefore  gave  unto  you 
circumcision  (not  because  it  is  of  Moses,  but  of  the 
fathers  ;)  and  ye  on  the  Sabbath-day  circumcise  a 
man.  If  a  man  on  the  Sabbath-day  receive  circum- 
cision, that  the  law  of  Closes  should  not  be  broken; 
are  ye  angry  at  me,  because  I  have  made  a  man 
every  whit  whole  on  the  Sabbath-da}^  ?  Judge  not 
according  to  the  appearance,  but  judge  righteous 
judgment.'* 

Still  another  case  is  recorded  by  John  in  the  fol- 
lowing words  : 

"  And  as  Jesus  passed  by,  he  saw  a  man  which 
was  blind  from  Ms  birth.  And  his  disciples  asked 
liim,  .saying,  blaster,  who  did  sin,  this  man,  or  his 
parents,  that  he  was  born  blind  ?  Jesus  answered, 
Neither  hath  this  man  sinned,  nor  his  parents  :  but 
that  the  works  of  God  should  be  made  manifest  in 
him.  I  must  work  the  works  of  him  that  sc-nt  me, 
while  it  is  day:  the  night  comcth,  when  no  man  can 
work.  As  long  as  I  am  in  the  world,  I  am  the  light 
of  the  world.  When  he  had  thus  spoken,  he  spat 
on  the  ground,  and  made  clay  of  the  .spittle,  and  he 
anointed  the  e3^es  of  the  blind  man  with  the  clay, 
and  .said  unto  him,  Go,  wash  in  the  pool  of  Siloam, 
(which  is  by  interpretation.  Sent).  He  went  his 
wa\  therefore,  and  washed,  and  came  seeing.  The 
neighbors  therefore,   and  they  which  before    had 

*  John  7:  19-24. 


14  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

seen  him  that  he  was  blind,  said,  Is  not  this  he  that 
sat  and  begged  ?  Some  said,  This  is  he  :  others 
said,  He  is  like  him  :  hut  he  said,  I  am  he.  There- 
fore said  they  unto  him.  How  were  thine  eyes 
opened  ?  He  answered  and  said,  A  man  that  is 
called  Jesus,  made  clay,  and  anointed  mine  eyes, 
and  said  unto  me,  Go  to  the  pool  of  Siloam,  and 
wash  :  and  I  went  and  washed,  and  I  received  si i!:ht. 
Then  said  they  unto  him.  Where  is  he  ?  He  said,  I 
know  not.  They  brought  to  the  Pharisees  him  that 
aforetime  was  blind.  And  it  was  the  Sabbath-day 
when  Jesus  made  the  clay,  and  opened  his  eyes. 
Then  agam  the  Pharisees  also  asked  him  how  he 
had  received  his  sight.  He  said  unto  them.  He  put 
clay  upon  mine  eyes,  and  I  washed,  and  do  see. 
Therefore  said  some  of  the  Pharisees,  This  man  is 
not  of  God,  because  he  keepeth  not  the  Sabbath- 
day.  Others  said.  How  can  a  man  that  is  a  sinner 
do  such  miracles  ?  And  there  was  a  division  among 
them."* 

Such  is  the  history  of  the  Sabbath  in  the  Gos- 
pels. Viewed  in  the  light  of  the  facts  suggested  at 
the  opening  of  this  chapter,  relative  to  the  false 
notions  of  the  Jews  concerning  it,  the  history 
shows  unmi^itakably  that  Christ  labored  only  to 
correct  abuses  and  misconceptions,  but  never  to 
destroy  or  annul  the  Sabbath.  This  history  shows, 
not  only  the  continual  recognition  of  the  Sabbath, 
but  also  what  it  ought  to  be  from  the  Christian 
stand-point.  Through  this  example  of  Christ  the 
Sabbath  law  of  the  Fourth  Commandment  has  a 
more  prominent  place,  and  more  copious  history, 
than  any  other  one  of  the  laws  of  the  Decalogue. 

*John  9:  1-16. 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  15 

This  history  accords  fully  with  Christ's  plain  decla- 
ration wherein  he  says  : 

"  Think  not  that  I  am  come  to  destroy  the  law  or 
the  prophets,  I  am  not  come  to  destroy  but  to  fulfill. 
For  verily  I  say  unto  you,  Till  heaven  and  earth 
pass,  one  jot  or  one  tittle  shall  in  no  wise  pass  from 
the  law  till  all  be  fulfilled.  Whosoever  therefore 
shall  break  one  of  lhe«e  least  commandments,  and 
shall  teach  men  so,  he  shall  be  called  the  least  in  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  ;  but  whosoever  shall  do  and 
teach  them,  the  same  shall  be  called  great  in  the 
kmgdom  of  heaven."* 

*  Matt.  5  :  ir-19. 


CHAPTER  III. 

History    of    Sunday   in    the 


f. 


p 


OSPELS. 


Only  one  first  day  of  the  week  is  spoken  of,  defi- 
nitely, in  the  Gospels,  that  is  the  day  ^yhich  followed 
the  resurrection  of  Christ.  (For  a  discussion  of  the 
time  when  Christ  arose,  namely,  "late  in  the  Sab- 
bath," i,  €.,  before  sunset  on  the  Sabbath,  see  "Bib- 
lical Teachings  concerning  the  Sabbath  and  Sun- 
day, p  60,  seq.)  Each  of  the  Evangelists  refers  to 
the  day,  and  the  scenes  of  the  early  morning  when 
the  resurrection  was  reported.  The  more  sanguine 
supporters  of  the  Sunday  attempt  to  begin  its  histo- 
ry with  John's  account  of  what  Christ  did  on  the 
eveoing  after  that  day,  and  Luke's  account  of  cer- 
tain occurrences  on  the  afternoon  of  that  day.  The 
latter  comes  first  in  order  as  being  the  earlier: 

"  And  behold,  two  of  them  went  that  same  day  to 
a  village  called  Emmaus,  which  was  from  Jerusalem 
ahoat  threescore  furlongs.  And  they  talked  together 
of  all  these  things  which  had  happened.  And  it  came 
to  pass,  that,  while  they  communed  torjethcr,  and 
reasoned,  Jesus  himself  drew  near,  and  went  with 
them.  But  their  eyes  were  holden,  that  they  should 
not  know  him.  And  he  said  unto  them,  What  man- 
ner of  communications  are  these  that  ye  have  one  to 
another,  as  ye  walk,  and  are  sad?    And  the  one  of 


SABBATH  AND    SUNDAY.  1? 

them,  whose  name  was  Cleopas,  answering,  said  un 
to  him.  Art  thou  only  a  stranger  in  Jerusalem,  and 
hast  not  known  the  things  which  are  come  to  pass 
there  in  these  days?  And  he  said  unto  tbem.  What 
things?  And  they  said  unto  him.  Concerning  Jesus 
of  Nazareth,  which  was  a  prophet  mighty  in  deed 
and  word  before  God,  and  all  the  people:  And  how 
the  chief  priests  and  our  rulers  delivered  him  to  be 
condemned  to  death,  and  have  crucitied  him.  But 
we  trusted  that  it  had  been  he  which  shtmld  have 
redeemed  Israel:  and  besides  all  this;  to-day  is  the 
third  day  since  these  things  were  done.  Yea,  and 
certain  women  also  of  our  company  made  us  aston- 
ished, which  were  early  at  the  sepulchre.  And  when 
they  found  not  his  body,  they  came,  saying,  that 
they  had  also  seen  a  vision  of  angels,  which  said 
that  he  was  alive.  And  certain  of  them  which  were 
with  us,  went  to  the  sepulchre,  and  found  it  even  so 
as  the  women  had  said:  but  him  they  saw  not.  Then 
he  said  unto  them,  O  fools,  and  slow  of  heart  to  be- 
lieve all  that  the  prophets  have  spoken!  Ought  not 
Christ  to  have  suffered  these  things,  and  to  enter  in- 
to his  glory?  And  beginning  at  Moses,  and  all  the 
prophets,  he  expounded  unto  them  in  all  the  script- 
ures the  things  concerning  himself.  And  they 
drew  nigh  unto  the  village  whither  they  went; 
and  he  made  as  though  he  would  have  gone 
farther.  But  they  constrained  him,  saying.  Abide 
with  us;  for  it  is  toward  evening  and  the  day 
is  far  spent.  And  he  went  in  to  tarry  with  them. 
And  it  came  to  pass,  as  he  sat  at  meat  with  them,  he 
took  bread,  and. blessed  rt,  and  brake,  and  gave  to 
them.  And  their  eyes  were  opened,  and  they  knew 
him:  and  he  vanished  out  of  their  sight.  And  they 
said  one  to  another,  Did  not  our  heart  burn  within 
us  while  he  talked  with  us  by  the  Avay,  and  while  he 
opened  to  us  the  Scriptures?  And  they  rose  up  the 
same  hour,  and  returned  to  Jerusalem,  and  found 
the  eleven  gathered  together,  and  them  that  were  with 


18  SABBATH    AND  SUNDAY. 

them,  Saying,  The  Lord  is  risen  indeed,  and  hath 
appeared  to  iSimon.  And  they  told  what  \hmgstcere 
done  in  the  way,  and  how  he  was  known  of  them  in 
breaking  of  bread.  And  as  they  thus  spake,  Jesus 
himself  stood  in  the  midst  of  them,  and  sailh  unto 
them.  Peace  be  unto  you.  But  they  were  terrified 
and  affrighted,  and  supposed  that  they  had  seen  a 
spirit.  And  he  said  unto  them,  Why  are  ye  troubled? 
and  why  do  thoughts  arise  in  your  hearts?  Behold 
my  hands  and  my  feet,  that  it  is  I  myself:  handle 
me,  and  see;  for  a  spirit  hath  not  flesh  and  bones,  as 
ye  see  me  have.  And  when  he  had  thus  spoken,  he 
shewed  them  ?iis  hands  and  Jiis  feet.  And  while 
they  yet  believed  not  for  joy,  and  wondered,  he  said 
unto  them,  Have  ye  here  any  meat?  And  they  gave 
him  a  pieceof  a  broiled  fish,  and  of  an  honey-comb. 
And  he  took  it,  and  did  eat  before  them.  And  he 
said  unto  them,  These  are  the  words  which  I  spake 
unto  you,  while  I  was  yet  with  you,  that  all  things 
must  be  fulfilled  which  were  written  in  the  law  of 
Moses,  and  in  the  prophets,  and  in  the  psalms,  con- 
cerning me.  Then  opened  he  their  understanding, 
that  they  might  understand  the  Scriptures,  And  said 
unto  them.  Thus  it  is  written,  and  thus  it  behooved 
Christ  to  suffer,  and  to  rise  from  the  dead  the  third 
day."* 

John's  account  takes  in  only  the  scene  of  the  even- 
ing after  the  day.     It  runs  as  follows: 

"Then  the  same  day  at  evening,  being  the  first 
day  of  the  week,  when  the  doors  were  shut  where 
the  disciples  were  assembled  for  fear  of  the  Jews, 
came  Jesus  and  stood  in  the  midst,  and  saith  unto 
them.  Peace  be  unto  you.  And  when  he  had  so  said, 
he  shewed  unto  them  Jris  hands  and  his  side.  Then 
were  the  disciples  glad,  when  they  saw  the  Lord. 
Then  said  Jesus  to  them  again.  Peace  6e  unto  you: 

*  Luke  S4:  1.3-46. 


SABBATH    AND  SUNDAY.  19 

as  my  Father  hath  sent  me,  even  so  send  I  you.  And 
when  he  had  said  this,  he  breathed  on  them,  and 
saith  unto  them,  Receive  ye  the  Holy  Ghost:  Whose- 
soever sins  ye  remit,  they  are  remitted  unto  them; 
a7?^  whosesoever  sins  ye  retain,  they  are  retained."* 

We  have  given  the  foregoing  in  full  in  order  that 
the  reader  may  see  that  all  the  events  took  place  for 
one  definite  purpose,  namely,  to  prove  to  the  doubt- 
ing disciples  that  Christ  had  really  risen.  The  day 
and  the  events  are  in  no  way  related  only  by  the  fact 
that  on  the  morning  of  that  day  the  resurrection  had 
been  reported:  in  the  afternoon  and  evening  Christ 
appeared  to  them  as  detailed  above,  in  order  to  con- 
vince them  of  the  fact.  The  day  has  no  other  his- 
tory, and  the  absence  of  all  evidence  that  it  was 
even  mentioned  for  any  other  reason,  precludes  the 
claim  that  this  bit  of  history  teaches,  even  in  any 
way,  the  doctrine  of  the  Sabbath  as  transferred 
to  the  Sunday. 

Because  this,  the  only  direct  reference  to  the  first 
day,  is  so  meager,  modern  theorists  have  sought  to 
prove  that  Christ  met  with  his  disciples  on  the 
next  Sunday,  also,  and  so  instituted  some  sort  of  ob- 
servance of  it.     This  claim  is  based  upon  the  f  ollow- 


•'  But  Thomas,  one  of  the  twelve,  called  Didymus, 
was  not  with  them  when  Jesus  came.  The  other 
disciples  therefore  said  unto  him,  We  have  seen  the 
Lord.  But  he  said  unto  them.  Except  I  shall  see  in 
his  hands  the  print  of  the  nails,  and  put  my  finger 
into  the  print  of  the  nails,  and  thrust  my  hand  into 

*  John  20:  19-23. 


20  SABBATH    AKD  SUNDAY. 


j    his  side,  I  will  not  believe.     And  after  eiglit  days 

/     again  his  disciples  were  within,  and  Thomas  with 

/     them;  then  came  Jesus,  the  doors  being  shut,  and 

1      stood  in  the  midst,   and  said.    Peace  he  unto  you. 

I      Then  saith   he  to  Thomas,  behold  my  hands;   and 

i      reach  hither  thy  hand,  and  thrust  it  into  my  side; 

\      and  be  not  faithless,  but  believing.     And  Thomas  an- 

I     swered  and  said  unto  him.  My  Lord  and  my  God. 

Jesus  saith  unto  him,   Thomas,   because  thou  hast 

seen  me,  thou  hast  believed;  blessed  are  they  that 

have  not  seen,  and  yet  have  believed."* 

The  trouble  with  making  any  history  for  Sunday 
out  of  this  passage,  is: 

(i)  There  is  no  evidence  that  it  was  the  next  first 
day.  If  the  language  be  taken  exactly,  then  "after  " 
eight  days  must  have  been  the  ninth  day  at  least. 
If  it  be  an  indefinite  expression  the  case  is  equally 
bad,  since  the  day  would  b3  wholly  unknown. 

(2)  The  reason  for  mentioning  the  event  is  that 
Thomas  being  present,  was  convinced. 

(3)  The  utter  absence  of  any  mention  of  a  new  or 
specific  reason  for  the  meeting  at  that  time  forbids 
even  the  supposition  that  any  reason  was  intended 

/beyond  the  one  which  the  facts  detailed  indicate. 

Only  one  conclusion  is  possible,  viz.,  the  first 
day  of  the  week  has  no  history  in  the  Gospels  ex- 
cept the  single  day  which  succeeded  the  resurrection 
of  Christ,  and  during  which,  and  in  the  evening 
after  which,  he  appeared  to  his  disciples  to  prove  his 
resurrection.  As  a  day  of  rest  or  worship,  it  has  no 
history  whatever. 

*  John  20;  26-29. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

fflSTORY    OF  THE   JSaBBATH    IN 

THE    -Book    of  Acts. 

The  Book  of  Acts  constitutes  the  second  depart- 
ment of  New  Testament  history.  It  details  the  do- 
ings, sermons,  etc.,  of  the  apostles  during  the  first 
thirty  years  after  Christ's  ascension.  It  is  the 
inspired  source  of  apostolic,  church  history.  What 
we  know  concerning  the  example  of  the  apostles 
during  the  first  generation  after  Christ,  we  learn 
from  Acts.  Let  us  inquire  what  it  contains  of  his- 
tory concerning  the  Sabbath.  Be  it  remembered 
that  the  Book  from  the  loth  chapter  forward,  is 
not  the  history  of  merely  Jewish  converts,  but  large- 
ly of  Gentiles.  We  find  the  thread  of  Sabbath  his- 
tory appearing  in  the  record  of  the  public  mission- 
ary labors  of  Paul  and  Barnabas,  as  follows: 

"And  when  they  were  at  Salamis,  they  preached 
the  word  of  God  in  the  synagogues  of  the  Jews.  And 
they  had  also  John  to  ^Ae^'r  minister.  .  .  .  But  when 
they  departed  from  Perga,  they  came  to  Antioch  in 
Pisidia,  and  went  into  the  synagogue  on  the  Sabbath- 
day,  and  sat  down.  And  after  the  reading  of  the 
law  and  the  prophets,  the  rulers  of  the  synagogue 
sent  unto  them,  saying,  Ye  men  and  brethren,  if  ye 
have  any  word  of  exhortation  for  the  people,  say 
on.     Then  Paul  stood  up,  and  beckoning  with  his 


22  SABBATH     AN^D    SUNDAY. 

hand  said,  Men  of  Israel,  and  ye  that  fear  God,  g've 
audience.  The  God  of  this  people  of  Israel  chose 
our  fathers,  and  exalted  the  people  when  they  dwelt 
as  strangers  in  the  land  of  Egypt,  and  with  a  high 
arm  brought  he  them  out  of  it.  And  about  the  time 
of  forty  years  suffered  he  their  manners  in  the  wil- 
derness. And  when  he  had  destroyed  seven  nations 
in  the  land  of  Ctianaan,  he  divided  their  land  to 
them  by  lot.  And  after  that  he  gave  unto  them 
judges  about  the  space  of  four  hundred  and  fifty 
years,  until  Samuel  the  prophet.  And  afteiward 
they  desired  akmg:  and  God  gave  unto  them  baul 
the  son  of  Cis,  a  man  of  the  tribe  of  Benjamin,  by 
the  space  of  forty  years.  And  when  he  had  removed 
him,  he  raised  up  unto  them  David  to  be  their  king; 
to  whom  also  he  gave  testimony,  and  said,  I  have 
found  David  the  mn  of  Jesse,  a  man  after  mine  own 
heart,  which  shall  fulfill  all  my  will.  Of  this  man's 
seed  hath  God,  according  to  Ms  promise,  raised  unto 
Israel  a  Saviour,  Jesus :  When  John  had  first  preached 
before  his  coming  the  baptism  of  repentance  to  all 
the  people  of  Israel.  And  as  John  fulfilled  his  course 
he  said,  Whom  think  ye  that  I  am?  I  am  not  he. 
But,  behold,  there  comethone  after  me,  whose  shoes 
of  his  feet  I  am  not  worthy  to  loose.  Men  and 
brethren,  children  of  the  stock  of  Abraham,  and 
whosoever  among  you  feareth  God,  to  you  is  the 
word  of  this  salvation  sent.  For  they  that  dwell  at 
Jerusalem,  and  their  rulers,  because  they  knew  him 
not,  nor  yet  the  voices  of  the  prophets  which  are 
read  every  Sabbath-day,  they  have  fulfilled  them  in 
condemning  him.  And  though  they  found  no  cause 
of  death  in  him,  yet  desired  they  Pilate  that  he 
should  be  slain.  And  when  they  had  fulfilled  all 
that  was  written  of  him,  they  took  him  down  from 
the  tree,  and  laid  him  in  a  sepulchre.  But  God  raised 
him  from  the  dead:  And  he  was  seen  many  days 
of  them  which  came  up  with  him  from  Galilee  to 
Jerusalem,  who  are  his  witnesses  unto  the  people. 


SABBATH    ANJ)     SU2s"DAY.  23 

And  we  declare  unto  you  glad  tidings,  how  that  the 
promise  which  was  made  unto  the  fathers,  God  hath 
fulfilled  the  same  unto  us  their  childreu,  in  that  he 
hath  raised  up  Jesus  again;  as  it  is  also  written  in 
the  second  psalm,  Thou  art  m}'  Son,  this  day  have 
I  begotten  thee.  And  as  concerning  that  he  raised 
him  up  from  the  dead,  now  no  more  to  return  to  cor- 
ruption, he  said  on  this  wise,  I  will  give  3'ou  the  sure 
mercies  of  David.  Wherefore  he  saith  also  in  an- 
other psalm,  Thou  shalt  not  suffer  thine  Holy  One 
to  see  corruption.  For  David,  after  he  had  served 
his  own  generation  by  the  will  of  God,  fell  on  sleep, 
and  was  laid  unto  his  fathers,  and  saw  corruption: 
But  he,  whom  God  raised  again,  saw  no  corruption. 
Be  it  known  unto  you  therefore,  men  and  brethren, 
that  through  this  man  is  preached  unto  you  the  for- 
giveness of  sins:  And  by  him  all  that  believe  are 
justified  from  all  things,  from  which  ye  could  not  be 
justified  by  the  law  of  Moses.  Beware  therefore, 
lest  that  come  upon  you,  which  is  spoken  of  in  the 
prophets;  Behold,  ye  despisers,  and  wonder,  and 
perish:  for  I  work  a  work  in  j'-our  days,  a  work 
which  ye  shall  in  no  wise  believe,  though  a  man  de- 
clare it  unto  j^ou.  And  when  the  Jews  were  gone 
out  of  the  synagogue,  the  Gentiles  besought  that 
these  words  might  be  preached  to  them  the  next  Sab- 
bath. Now  when  the  congregation  was  broken  up, 
many  of  the  Jews  and  religious  proselytes  followed 
Paul  and  Barnabas;  who,  speaking  to  them,  persuad- 
ed them  to  continue  in  the  grace  of  God.  And  the 
next  Sabbath-day  came  almost  the  whole  city  to- 
gether to  hear  the  Word  of  God.  But  when  the 
Jews  saw  the  multitudes,  they  were  filled  with  envy, 
and  spake  against  those  things  which  were  spoken 
by  Paul,  contradicting  and  blaspheming.  Then  Paul 
and  Barnabas  waxed  bold,  and  said.  It  was  necessary 
that  the  Word  of  God  should  first  have  been  spoken 
to  you;  but  seeing  ye  |)ut  it  fiom  you,  and  judge 
yourselves  unworthy  of  everlasting  life,  lo,   we  turn 


24  SABBATH     AXD    SUNDAY. 

CO  the  Gentiles.  For  so  hath  the  Lord  commanded 
us,  myimj,  I  have  set  thee  to  be  a  light  of  the  Gen- 
tiles, that  thou  shouldest  be  for  salvation  unto  the 
ends  of  the  earth.  And  when  the  Gentiles  heard 
this,  they  were  glad,  and  glorified  the  word  of  the 
Lord:  and  as  many  as  were  ordained  to  eternal  life, 
believed."* 

I  Here  is  the  continual  and  habitual  recognition  and 
observance  of  the  Sabbath  and  the  gathering  of  the 
nuclei  of  churches,  by  Sabbath-keeping  apostles, 
paul's  sermon  which  is  woven'  into  the  history  was 
6f  such  a  nature,  and  was  so  connected  with  the 
question  of  Christ's  Messiahship  and  resurrection, 
that  it  must  have  discussed  the  ' '  Sunday  qiiestion, " 
had  there  been  any  to  discuss.  The  42d  and  44th 
verses  show  that  the  Gentiles  separately  besought 
that  they  might  hear  more  of  the  truth  on  the  fol- 
lowing Sabbath, — not  on  the  next  day,  Sunday. 
The  apostles  complied  with  their  request,  and  on  the 
next  Sabbath,  "almost  the  whole  city"  came  out  to 
hear  the  Word.  Had  this  occurred  in  a  strictly 
Jewish  quarter,  like  Jerusalem  there  might  be  some 
shadoAV  for  thinking  that  this  was  done  to  meet  a 
Jewish  prejudice.  As  it  is,  such  a  conclusion  is  not 
deducible  from  the  history.  Passing  to  the  next 
chapter,  we  find  this  same  history  continued: 

"  And  it  came  to  pass  in  Iconium,  that  they  went 
both  together  into  the  s^^nagogue  of  the  Jews,  and 
so  bpake  that  a  great  multitude,  both  of  the  Jews,and 
also  of  the  Greeks,  believed.  But  the  unbelieving 
Jews  stirred  up  the  Gentiles,  and  made  their  minds 

*  Acts  13:  5.  14-48. 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  25 

evil-affected  against  the  brethren.  Long  time  there- 
fore abode  they  speaking  boldly  in  the  Lord,  which 
gave  testimony  unto  the  word  of  his  grace,  and  grant- 
ed signs  and  wonders  to  be  done  by  their  hands.  "* 

Note  that  this  is  not  a  temporary  act.  They  abode 
there  a  long  time,  teaching  thus.  We  next  find 
Paul  at  Philippi  in  Macedonia,  some  ten  years  later,! 
observing  the  Sabbath  and  seeking  a  place  of  worship) 
even  where  there  was  no  synagogue:  ' 

"  And  from  thence  to  Philippi,  which  is  the  chief 
city  of  that  part  of  Macedonia,  ancl^  colony:  and  we 
were  in  that  city  abiding  certain  days.  And  on  the 
Sabbath  we  went  out  of  the  city  by  a  river  side, 
where  prayer  was  wont  to  be  made;  and  we  sat  down 
and  spake  unto  the  women  which  resorted  thither. 
And  a  certain,  woman  named  Lydia,  a  seller  of  pur- 
ple, of  the  city  of  Thyatira,  which  worshiped  God, 
heard  us:  whose  heart  the  Lord  opened,  that  she  at- 
tended unto  the  things  w^hich  were  spoken  of  Paul. 
And  when  she  was  baptized,  and  her  household,  she 
besought  us,  saying.  If  ye  have  judged  me  to  be 
faithful  to  the  Lord,  come  into  my  house,  and  abide 
there.     And  she  constrained  us."f 

In  the  17th  chapter  the  history  of  Sabbath  runs 
on  as  follows : 

"  Now  when  they  had  passed  through  Amphipolis 
and  Apollonia,  they  came  to  Thessalonica,  where 
was  a  synagogue  of  the  Jews:  And  Paul,  as  his 
manner  was,  went  in  unto  them,  and  three  Sabbath- 
days  reasoned  with  them  out  of  the  Scriptures,  open- 
ing and  alleging,  that  Christ  must  needs  have  suf- 
fered, and  risen  again  from  the  dead ;  and  that  this 
Jesus,   whom  I  preach  unto  you,  is  Christ.     And 


*  Acts  14:  1-3.     t  Acts  16: 12-15. 


26  SABBATH    AND     SUNDAY. 

some  of  them  believed,  and  consorted  with  Paul  and 
Silas;  and  of  the  devout  Greeks  a  great  multitude, 
and  of  the  chief  women  not  a  few." 

#  *  *  *  *  * 

"Now  while  Paul  waited  for  them  at  Athens,  his 
spirit  was  stirred  in  him,  when  he  saw  the  citj-  wholly 
given  to  idolatry.  Therefore  disputed  he  in  the 
synagogue  with  the  Jews,  and  with  devout  person*?, 
and  in  the  market  daily  with  them  that  met  with 
him.  Then  certain  philosophers  of  the  Epicureans, 
and  of  the  Stoics,  encountered  him.  And  some  said, 
What  will  this  babbler  say?  other  some.  He  seemeth 
to  be  a  setter  forth  of 'strange  gods:  because  he 
preached  unto  them  Jesus,  and  the  resurrection.""* 

Let  the  reader  not  fail  to  note  that  Paul  is  here 
preaching  far  from  Jerusalem,  at  Athens,  among 
the  Gentiles,  par  excellence,  and  preaching  about 
"  Jesus  and  the  resurrection,"  as  a  Sabbath-keeper 
with  no  hint  or  word  about  a  "  resurrection  day,"  or 
a  transferred  Sabbath. 

Passing  to  the  next  chapter,  the  Holy  Spirit  takes 
pains  to  tell  us  of  the  continued  habit  of  Paul  in  Cor- 
1/  inth,  the  heart  of  Gentiledom,  as  a  Sabbath-keeper: 

I       "And  he  reasoned  in  the  synagogue  every  Sab- 
bath, and  persuaded  the  Jews  and  the  Greeks. " 
\  ****** 

^      "  And  he  continued  there  a  year  and  six   months 

teaching  the  Word  of  God  among  them." 

*  *  *  *  *  * 

"  And  Paul  after  this  tarried  there  yet  a  good  while, 
and  then  took  his  leave  of  the  brethren,  and  sailed 
thence  into  Syria,  and  with  him  Priscilla,  and  Aquda; 
having  shorn /i2s  head  inCenchrea:  for  he  had  a  vow. 
And  he  came  to  Ephesus,  and  left  them  there:  but 

*  Acts  17:  1-4,  16-19.  *" 


SABBATH    AND     SUNDAY.  27 

he  himself  entered  into  the  synagogue,  and  reasoned 
with  the  Jews.  When  they  desired  him  to  tarry  long- 
er time  with  them,  he  consented  not:  But  bade  them 
farewell,  saying,  I  must  by  all  means  keep  this  feast 
that  Cometh  in  Jerusalem:  but  I  will  return  again 
unto  you,  if  God  will.  And  he  sailed  from  Ephesus."* 

Before  returning  to  Ephesus  Paul  visited  Caesarea, 
Antioch,  and  "all  the  countr}^  of  Galatia  and 
Phrygia."  Returning  to  Ephesus,  we  find  him  still 
observing  the  Sabbath  as  shown  by  the  following: 

"And  he  went  into  the  synagogue,  and  spake 
boldly  for  the  space  of  three  months,  disputing  and 
persuading  the  things  concerning  the  kingdom  of  God. 
But  when  diveis  were  hardened,  and  believed  not, 
but  spake  evil  of  that  Avay  before  the  multitude,  he 
departed  from  them,  and  separated  the  disciples,  dis- 
puting daily  in  the  school  of  one  Tyrannus.  -  And 
this  continued  b}--  the  space  of  two  years;  so  that 
all  they  which  dwelt  in  Asia  heard  the  word  of  the 
Lord  Jesus,  both  Jews  and  Greeks. 'f 

Following  the  chronology  of  the  common  version, 
these  references  bring  us  down  to  55  or  56  A.  D. 
They  include  a  period  of  ten  years  at  least,   com 
menciug  after    the    work  was  begun    among  the 
Gentiles,  and  most  of  the  occurrences  being  entirely 
outside  of  Palestine  and  immediate  Jewish  influence. 
These  facts  give  the  Sabbath  a  distinct,  definite  his- 
tory in  the  Book  of  Acts,  in  which  it  has  the  highest  \ 
sanction  of  continued  apostolic  example  in  its  favor.  \ ' 
As  a  fact   in  history  every   church  or  congregation  \ 
which  is  noticed  in  the  Book  of  Acts,  was  founded  • ) 
by  Sahhath-keeping  apostolic  missionaries.  j' 

*  Acts  18:  4.  11,  -.8-21.     t  Acts  19:  8-10. 


CHAPTER  V. 

mistory  of  ^unday  in  the 
■Book  of  Acts, 

^  The  first  day  of  the  week  is  mentioned  but  once 
in  the  Book  of  Acts.  We  give  that  reference  in 
full: 

'  And  we  sailed  away  from  Philippi  after  the  days 
of  unleavened  bread,  and  came  unto  them  to  Troas 
in  live  days;  where  we  abode  seven  days.  And  upon 
the  first  day  of  the  week,  when  the  disciples  came 
together  to  break  bread,  Paul  preached  unto  them, 
ready  to  depart  on  the  morrow;  and  continued  his 
speech  until  midnight.  And  there  were  many  lights 
in  the  upper  chamber,  where  they  were  gathered  to 
gether.  And  there  sat  in  a  window  a  certain  young 
man  named  Eutychus,  being  fallen  into  a  deep  sleep: 
and  as  Paul  was  long  preaching,  he  sunk  down  with 
sleep,  and  fell  down  from  the  third  loft,  and  was 
taken  up  dead.  And  Paul  went  down,  and  fell  on 
him,  and  embracing  Mm  said,  Trouble  not  your- 
selves: for  his  life  is  in  him.  When  he  therefore  was 
come  up  again,  and  had  broken  bread,  and  eaten, 
and  talked  a  long  while,  even  till  break  of  day,  so  he 
departed.  And  they  brought  the  young  man  alive, 
and  were  not  a  little  comforted."* 

Analyzing  this  bit  of  history  the  following  facts 
appear: 

*  Acts  20:  6-12. 


SABBATH     AND    SUNDAY.  29 

1.  The  occasion  for  mentioning  the  day  of  the 
week  is  found  in  the  fact  that  at  its  beginning,  on 
what  is  now  called  "  Saturday  evening,"  a  farew^ell 
meeting  was  held,  preparatory  to  the  leaving  of  Paul 
on  the  following  morning.     This  fact,  and  the  mi- 
raculous restoration  of  the  young  man  Eutychus, 
are  the  only  ones  which  appear,  or  are  implied,   as 
marking  the  time  or  the  occasion.     On  the  other 
hand,  the  theory  that  this  was  the  Sabbath  by  a  trans- 
fer of  the  law  and  the  customs  of  rest  and  worship 
from   the    seventh   day,    is    positively     forbidden 
by  the  facts  relative  to    the   Sabbath  and  its   ob- 
servance,  by  the  fact  that   this    is  the  only   time 
when  the  first  day  is  mentioned  in  the  entire  book,  ^ 
and  by  the  still  more  significant  fact  that   in  this  i 
mention  there  is  no  hint,  even  remote,  of  anything  i 
Sabbatic  or  commemorative  about  the  day,   or  the  \ 
meeting;  and  farther  still,  by  the  fact  that  this  meet-  • 
ing   must  have  been  on  the  evening   before  .  Sun- ; 
day,    and    that  Paul   and  his  party  pursued  their 
journey   on  that    day.     Still    farther;   in   the  sev- 
enth verse  the  best  manuscripts  give  "we"  instead  of 
"  disciples,"  showing  that  the  "breakingof  bread," 
was  probably  the  ordinary  evening  meal  of  the  trav- 
eling party.     If,  in  order  to  put  something  into  this 
history,  it  be  insisted  that  this  was  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per, and  that  the  meeting  was  on  the  evening  aft^r 
Sunday,  then  all  the  occurrences  were  on  the  second 
day  of  the  week,  according  to  the  prevalent  mode  of 
reckoning,   and  the  breaking  of  bread,  was  on  the 
second  day,  even  according  to  the  modern  reckon- 


30  SABBATH    AND     SUNDAY. 

pig,  since  it  wus  past  midnight.  The  first  day  of  the 
jWeek,  therefore,  has  no  history  in  the  Book  of  Acts, 
las  it  has  none  in  the  Gospels.  In  a  word,  the  most 
(careful  and  honest  search  finds  no  history  of  Sunday 
in  the  Bible,  either  as  a  Sabbath,  a  prayer  day,  or 
a  resurrection  festival.  The  sources  of  its  history 
are  not  found  in  the  Word  of  God. 

But  lest  some  one  shall  say  that  lhe  non-historic 
writings  of  the  New  Testament  contain  references 
which  are  fairly  historic,  we  will  notice  what  is 
said  of  the  first  day,  outside  of  the  Gospels  and  of  the 
Acts.     Looking  through  all  of  the 

EPISTLES, 

our  search  is  well  nigh  fruitless,  for  the  tirst  day  of 
the  week  is  mentioned  but  once,  in  them  all.     Here  it 


"Now  concerning  the  collection  for  the  saints,  as 
I  have  given  order  to  the  churches  of  Galatia,  even 
so  do  ye.  Upon  ihe  first  day  of  the  week  let  every 
one  of  you  lay  by  him  in  store,  as  God  hath  prospered 
him,  that  there  be  no  gatherings  when  I  come.  And 
when  I  come,  whomsoever  ye  shall  approve  by  yowr 
letters,  them  will  I  send  to  bring  j^our  liberality  un- 
to Jerusalem."* 

Analyzed  as  an  historic  statement,  the  above  gives 
us  the  following: 

1.  Certain  help  is  needed  for  the  poor  at  Jerusa- 
lem, and  Paul  gives  certain  directions  concerning  it. 

*  1     or.  Ifi:  1-3 


SABBATH    AND   SUNDAY.  31 

It  is  only  a  temporary  arrangement  for  a  specific 

purpose. 

2.  The  order  is  that  every  man  sliall  "  put  aside 
at  home,"  on  the  fiist  day  of  the  week  what  God 
has  enabled  him  to  give  for  this  purpose. 

This  interpretation  is  supported  by  Alford,  Schaflf, 
Meyer  and  others.  Neither  the  historian  nor  the 
exegete  can  find  anything  in  this  to  indicate  a  pub- 
lic assembly,  or  any  recognition  of  the  day  except 
as  a  proper  one  on  which  to  set  aside,  each  maji  by 
himself,  his  benefaction  for  the  poor.  To  begin  the 
business  of  the  week  ihus,  was  an  excellent  way  to 
insure  a  careful  consideration  of  the  claims  of  benev- 
olence and  a  systematic  training  in  well  doing. 

These  considerations  are  all  that  appear  in  the 
text,  or  the  circumstances,  and  they  are  quite  suffi- 
cient for  the  order  given. 

Polemists  quote  one  passage  from  the 

EEVELATION, 

from  which  they  seek  to  infer  an  argument  for  the 
observance  of  Sunday.  They  presumptuously  assert 
that  the  passage  forms  the  source  of  the  use  of  the 
term  "  Lord's-day,"  as  applied  to  the  first  day  of  the 
week.     It  reads  thus: 

"  I  was  in  the  Spirit  on  the  Lord's-day,  and  heard 
behind  me  a  great  voice,  as  of  a  trumpet,  Saymg,  1 
am  Alpha  and  Omega,  the  first  and  the  last:  and. 
What  thou  seest  write  in  a  book,  and^send  i^  unto 
the  seven  churches  which  are  in  Asia,'  etc. 

Granting,  for  sake  of  the  argument,  that  the  expres- 


*Eev.  1:  10. 


62  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

sion  is  correctly  rendered,  which,  however,  is  fairly 
questioned  on  philological  grounds,  there  are  seri- 
ous objections  against  using  it  as  a  source  of  history. 

1.  The  expression  does  not  occur  elsewhere  in  the 
New  Testament. 

2.  The  Kevelation  was,  probably,  written  a  quar- 
ter of  a  century  before  the  Gospel  of  John,  and  the 
absence  of  the  term  "  Lord's-day  "  or  any  similar 
term  from  the  gospel  in  which  the  first  day  is  dis- 
tinctly mentioned,  (See  John  20,)  is  against  every 
natural  conclusion.  If  Sunday  was  so  sacred  as  to 
be  called  Lord's-day  twenty-five  years  before  John's 
Gospel  was  written,  it  is  utterly  unhistoric  to  suppose 
that  the  term  would  not  appear  in  the  subsequent  writ- 
ings of  John  and  others.  This  idea  is  strengthened  by 
the  fact  that  the  term  does  not  appear  in  the  post- 
apostolic  writings  until  about  170  A.  D.  The  pas- 
sage, therefore,  cannot  be  made  a  foundation  for  the 
history  of  Sunday  as  the  Lord's-day,  because  of  what 
it  contains;  and  the  circumstances,  viewed  in  the 
light  of  the  philosophy  of  history,  forbid  any  appli- 
cation of  the  term  to  Sunday. 

Thus  our  survey  of  the  Epistles  and  of  Revelation 
,  reveals  no  history  of  the  first  day  of  the  week  in  the 
i  Bible. 

For  the  analysis  of  the  arguments  adduced  in  con- 
nection with  these  passages  see,  "Biblical  Teachings 
Concerning  the  Sabbath  and  Sunday,"  by  A.  H.  Lew- 
is, pp.  76-^105. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

The  ^postolic    Fathers. 

The  material  for  history  during  the  century  im- 
mediately succeeding  the  apostolic  period  is  meager 
and  imperfect.     The  earlier  post-apostolic  writmgs 
are  fragmentary.     In  many  instances  neither  the  date 
of  the  Treatise  nor  the  name  of  the  author  is  known. 
Forgeries  abound  and  real  literary  ability  is  sadly 
warning.      Apocryphal   Gospels,   Epistles,   and  the 
like  meet  the  investigator  at  every  step  leading  the 
unwary  and  over-credulous  astray.  .  The  stream  of 
written  Christian  history  which  runs  clear,  through 
the  Gospels  and  the  Book  of  Acts,  drops  out  of  sight 
like  a  "lost  river,"  for  atime,  and  when  it  reappears  it 
is  not  a  little  polluted  by  the  influences  which  it  has 
gathered  in  its  under-ground  wanderings.     Modern 
scholarship  has  selected  a  few  things  from  the  mass 
of  material  that  has  come  to  us  claiming  to  be  the 
product  of  the  immediate  post-apostolic  age,  which 
are  called,    ' '  The  writings  of  the  Apostolic  Fathers. 
A  momentary  comparison  of  these  with  the  genuine 
shows  that  they  fall  infinitely  below  the  apostolic 
standard.     There  is  "  a  great  gulf  between  them." 
Since  Sunday  has  no  history  in  the  New  Testament, 
Its  Puritan  and  semi-Puritan  advocates  have  labored 
"itremiousIj^foTind  some  support  for  it  in  the  earlier 
(3) 


34  SABBATH     A>sL)    SUNDAY. 

post-apostolic  productions.  Willing  to  grant  unto 
it  all  that  can  be  found  we  will  examine  these  in 
their  order. 

THE   EPISTLE   OF   CLEMEKT    OF   EOME,    TO   THE   COR- 
LNTHIANS. 

This  was,  probably,  written  about  the  j^ear  97  A. 
D.  It  is  attributed  to  the  companion  of  Paul 
spoken  of  in  Phil.  4:  3.  A  few  defenders  of  Sunday 
have  referred  to,  or  quoted  from  the  fortieth  and 
forty-first  chapters,  seeking  therefrom  inferential 
argument  in  favor  of  their  theories.  The  passage 
with  its  context  is  as  follows: 

' '  Seeing  then  these  things  are  manifest  unto  us, 
it  will  behoove  us  to  take  care  that,  looking  into  the 
depths  of  the  divine  knowledge,  we  do  all  things  in 
order  whatsoever  our  Lord  has  commanded  us  to  do; 
and  particularly,  that  we  perform  our  offerings  and 
service  to  God  at  their  appointed  seasons;  for  these 
he  has  commanded  to  be  done,  not  by  chance  and 
disorderly,  but  at  certain  determinate  times  and 
hours;  and  therefore  he  has  ordained,  by  his  supreme 
will  and  authority,  both  where,  and  by  what  persons, 
they  are  to  be  performed;  that  so,  all  things  being 
piously  done  unto  him  well-pleasing,  they  may  be 
acceptable  unto  him.  They,  therefore,  who  make 
their  offerings  at  the  appointed  seasons  are  happy 
and  accepted;  because  that,  obeying  the  command- 
ments of  the  Lord,  they  are  free  from  sin.  And  the 
same  care  must  be  had  of  the  persons  that  minister 
unto  him;  for  the  chief  priest  has  his  proper  serv- 
ices; and  to  the  priests  their  proper  place  is  appoint- 
ed; and  to  the  Levites  appertain  their  proper  ministries; 
and  the  layman  is  confined  within  the  bounds  of 
what  is  commanded  to  laymen. 

"  Let  every  one  of  you,  therefore,  brethren,  bless 
God  in  his  proper  station,  with  a  good  conscience, 


SABBATH    AND     SUINDAY.  35 

and  with  all  gravity,  not  exceeding  the  rule  of  his 
service  that  is  appointed  to  him.  The  daily  sacrifices 
are  not  offered  everywhere,  nor  the  peace-offerings, 
nor  the  sacrifices  appointed  for  sins  and  transgress- 
ions, but  only  at  Jerusalem;  nor  in  any  place  there, 
but  only  at  the  altar  before  the  temple;  that  which 
is  offered  being  first  diligently  examined  by  the  high 
priest  and  the  other  ministers  we  before  mentioned. 
They  therefore  who  do  anything  which  is  not  agree- 
able to  his  will  are  punished  with  death."'* 

The  foregoing  evidently  refers  to  the  temple  wor- 
ship. Certainly  it  contains  nothing  relative  to  any 
change  of  the  Sabbath,  abrogation  of  the  Sabbath 
law,  or  introduction  of  Sunday.  Neither  is  there 
any  reference  or  hint  relative  to  any  such  thing  in 
any  other  part  of  the  epistle.  More;  a  writer  who 
is  thus  particular  concerning  the  ceremonies  of  an 
outgoing  system  would  not  fail  to  note  so  prominent 
a  feature  of  the  new  system  as  Sunday  observance 
would  have  been. 

Next  in  order  is  a  long  allegory,  which  is  attribu- 
ted to  the 

HERMAS 

who  is  mentioned  in  Romans  i6:  14.  This  allegory 
makes  no  allusion  to  the  Lord's-day  or  to  the  Sun- 
day. Its  date  is  placed  by  the  editors  of  Clark's  edi- 
tion of  1879,  during  the  reign  of  Hadrian  or  Antonius 
Pius,  i.  €.,  between  117  and  161  A.  D. 
Next  comes  the  epistle  of 

POLYCAKP  TO  THE  PHILIPPIANS, 

which  is  attributed  by  some  to  a  disciple  of  St.  John. 

*  Clement  to  the  Corinthians,  chaps.  40,  41.  Wake's  Trans.; 
also,  Patrum  Apostoliconim  Opera,  Dressel,  Leipsic,  1857; 
also  ApostoUc  Fathers,  T.  &  T.  Clark,  Edinburg,  1879,  the 
latter  being  somewhat  preferable  as  a  trans!  atit  n. 


36  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

This  is  evidently  incorrect  since  the  best  authorities 
give  its  probable  date  as  about  the  middle  of  the  sec- 
ond century.     This  is  also  silent  concerning  Sunday. 

PAPIAS. 

Fragments  of  writings  attributed  to  Papias,  who 
is  said  to  have  been  martyred  about  163  A.  D.,  con- 
tain no  reference  to  Sunday.  Thus  three  out  of  five 
of  these  "Fathers,"  Clement,  Hermas,  and  Papias, 
are  found  to  be  wholly  silent  concerning  the  ques- 
tion at  issue.  The  two  remaining  ones  we  shall  find 
to  be  spuriotcs  productions  which  possess  no  value  as 
authorities. 

BARNABAS. 

First  of  these  two  comes  the  CatJwUc  Epistle  of 
Barnabas.  This  has  been  attributed  to  the  com- 
panion of  St.  Paul  in  his  missionary  labors,  and 
dated  as  earlj^  as  A.  D.  71.  The  following,  from 
standard  authorities,  will  show  that  such  claims  are 
false.     Neander  speaks  as  follows: 

"The  writings  of  the  so-called  Apostolic  Fathers 
are,  alas!  come  down  to  us,  for  the  most  part,  in  a 
very  uncertain  condition;  partly,  because  in  early 
times  writings  were  counterfeited,  under  the  name 
of  these  venerable  men  of  the  church,  in  order  to 
propagate  certain  opinions  or  principles;  partly,  be- 
cause, those  writings  which  they  had  really  pub- 
lished were  adulterated,  and  especially  so,  to  serve  a 
Judao-hierarchical  part}^  which  would  fain  crush 
the  free  evangelical  spirit.  We  should  here,  in  the 
first  place,  have  to  name  Barnabas,  the  well  known 
fellow  traveler  of  St.  Paul,  if  a  letter,  which  was 
first  known  in  the  second  century,  in  the  Alexandrian 
church,  under  his  name,  and  which  bore  the  in- 
scription of  a  Catholic  epistle,  was  really  his  com- 


SABBATH    AND    SUXDAY.  37 

position.  But  it  is  impossible  that  we  should  ac- 
knowledge this  epistle  to  belong  to  that  Barnabas 
who  was  worthy  to  be  the  companion  of  the  apos- 
tolic labors  of  St.  Paul,  and  had  received  his  name 
from  the  power  of  his  animated  discourses  in  the 
churches.  .  .  .  We  find,  also,  nothing  to  induce  us 
to  believe  the  author  of  the  epistle  was  desirous  of 
being  considered  Barnabas.  But  since  its  spirit  and 
its  mode  of  conception  corresponded  to  the  Alexan- 
drian taste,  it  may  have  happened,  that  as  the  author's 
name  was  unknown,  and  persons  were  desirous  of 
giving  it  authority,  a  report  was  spread  abroad  in 
Alexandria,  that  Barnabas  was  the  author."* 

Mosheim  says: 

"  The  Epistle  of  Barnabas  was  the  production  of 
some  Jew,  who  most  probably  lived  in  this  (the  sec- 
ond) century,  and  whose  mean  abilities  and  supersti- 
tious attachment  to  Jewish  fables,  show,  notwith- 
standing the  uprightness  of  his  intentions,  that  he 
must  have  been  a  very  different  person  from  tht-  true 
Barnabas  who  was  St.  Paul's  companion."! 

Also,  this  from  the  same  author: 

' '  For  what  is  suggested  by  some  of  its  having 
been  written  by  that  Barnabas  who  was  the  friend 
and  companion  of  St.  Paul,  the  futility  of  such  a 
notion  is  easily  to  be  made  apparent  from  the  letter 
itself.  Several  of  the  opinions  and  interpretations 
of  scripture  which  it  contains,  having  in  them  so 
little,  either  of  truth,  or  dignity,  or  force,  as  to 
render  it  impossible  that  they  ever  could  have  pro- 
ceeded from  the  pen  of  a  man  divinely  inspired.  "| 

Eusebius  says: 

' '  Take  these  which  follow  for  forged  works — The 
Acts  of  Paul,  the  book  called  Pastor,  the  Revelation 

*  Hist,  of  the  Christian  Church  of  tlie  First  Tliree  Centuries 
pp.  407,  408,  Rose's  Trans. 

t  Church  history,  Vol.  1,  p.  113,  Maclaine's  Trans. 
X  Historical  Commentaries,  Century  2,  Sec.  53. 


38  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

of  Peter;  moreover,  the  Epistle  fathered  upon   Bar- 
nabas, and  the  Doctrine  called  The  Apostles."* 

Prof.  Hackett  says: 

"  The  letter  still  extant,  which  was  known  as  that 
of  Barnabas,  even  in  the  second  century,  can  not  be 
defended  as  genuine."! 

Milner  says: 

"  Of  the  apostle  Barnabas,  nothing  is  known,  ex- 
cept what  is  recorded  in  the  Acts.  There  we  have 
an  honorable  encomium  of  his  character,  and  a  par- 
ticular description  of  his  joint  labors  with  St.  Paul. 
It  is  a  great  injury  to  him,  to  apprehend  the  epistle 
which  goes  by  his  name  to  be  his.  "X 

Kitto  says: 

"The  so-called  epistle  of  Barnabas,  probably  a 
forgery  of  the  second  century.  "§ 

Sir  William  Domville,  after  an  exhaustive  exami- 
nation of  the  whole  question,  concludes  as  follows: 

"But  the  epistle  was  not  written  by  Barnabas;  it 
is  not  merely  '  unworthy  of  him, '  it  would  be  a  dis- 
grace to  him,  and,  what  is  of  much  more  conse- 
quence, it  would  be  a  disgrace  to  the  Christian  re- 
ligion, as  being  the  production  of  one  of  the  author- 
ized teachers  of  that  religion  in  the  time  of  the 
apostles,  which  circumstance  would  seriously  dam- 
age the  evidence  of  its  divine  authority."! 

Prof.  W.  D.  Killen,  a  prominent  representative  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Ireland,  bears  testimony 
as  follows: 

*  Hamner's  translation  of  Eusebius'  Hist.    Ecc,  liber  3, 
chap.  22,  p.  49,  London,  1650. 
t  Commentary  on  Acts,  p.  251. 
t  Vol.  1,  p.  126,  Church  History. 
§  Cyclopedia  Biblical  Literature,  article  Lord's-day- 
I  An  Examination  of  the  Six  Texts,  p.  233. 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  39 

..  The  tract  knowu  as  the  '  Ej^istle  of   J^u-ba^; 

was  probably  ^o'X'oV  a   co?verf  from  JudaU, 
t^o^o/sl^SlUt-^inTnegorical  interprets. 

tions  of  Scripture.'  * 
Eev.  Lyman  Coleman  says: 
-ThpFnistle  of  Barnabas,  bearing  the  lionored 

not  define. "+  _   .    ,     . 

Dr.  Sekafl  rejects  the  theory  that   the  Ep.slle  is 
genuine,  and  says: 

°' The'Encyclopedia  of  Keligious  Knowledge  (arti- 
cle Barnabas'  Epistle),  speaking  of  Barnabas  the 
companion  of  Paul,  says: — 

TSS^' ClSan  Ohm-oh,  Vol.  2,  p.  677,  New  York,  1883. 


40  SABBATH    AN^D    SUNDAY. 

"He  could  not  be  the  author  of  a  work  so  full  of 
forced  allegories,  extravagant  and  unwarrantable 
explications  of  Scripture,  together  with  stories  con- 
cerning beasts,  and  such  like  conceits,  as  make  up 
the  first  part  of  this  epistle." 

In  the  presence  of  the  foregoing  evidence,  but  one 
conclusion  is  possible,  viz. ,  the  Epistle  of  Barnabas 
is  a  vague,  fanciful  production  of  some  dreamer, 
forged  at  an  uncertain  date  in  the  second  century. 
If  the  reader  cares  to  look  into  it,  he  will  find  por- 
tions of  it  to  be  unfit  for  a  respectable  page.  The 
passage  quoted  in  favor  of  Sunday  observance  reads 
as  follows: 

"  Even  in  the  beginning  of  the  creation  he  makes 
mention  of  the  Sabbath:  '  And  God  made  in  six  days 
the  works  of  his  hands,  and  he  finished  them  on  the 
seventh  day,  and  he  rested  the  seventh  day  and  sanc- 
tified it.'  Consider,  my  children,  what  that  signifies. 
He  finished  them  in  six  days.  The  meaning  of  it  is 
this:  that  in  six  thousand  years  the  Lord  Grod  will  bring 
all  things  to  an  end,  for  with  him  one  day  is  as  a 
thousand  years;  as  himself  testifieth,  saying,  'Be- 
hold this  day  shall  be  as  a  thousand  years. '  There- 
fore, children,  in  six  days,  that  is,  in  six  thousand 
years,  shall  all  things  be  accomplished.  And  what 
is  that  he  saith,  'And  he  rested  the  seventh  day?' 
He  meaneth  this:  that  when  his  Son  shall  come,  and 
abolish  the  season  of  the  wicked  one,  and  judge  the 
ungodly,  and  shall  change  the  sun,  and  the  moon, 
and  the  stars,  then  he  shall  gloriously  rest  on  that 
seventh  day.  .  .  .  Lastly,  he  saith  unto  them, 
'  Your  new  moons  and  your  sabbaths,  I  cannot  bear 
them.'  Consider  what  he  means  by  it.  'The  sab- 
baths,' says  he,  'which  ye  now  keep,  are  not  accept- 
able unto  me,  but  those  which  I  have  made.'  When 
resting  from  all  things,  I  shall  begin  the  eighth  day; 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  41 

that  is  the  beginning  of  the  other  world.  For  which 
cause  we  observe  the  eighth  day  with  gladness,  m 
vdiich  Jesus  rose  from  the  dead;  and  having  mam- 
fested  himself  to  his  disciples,  he  ascended  into  heav- 
en."* 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  many  writers  in  favor  of 
Sunday  have  quoted  only  the  last  clause  of  the  fore- 
going, beginning  with  the  words,  ' '  For  which  cause," 
etc  They  have  thus  perverted  the  meaning,  and 
sought  to  make  it  appear  that  the  -resurrection" 
was  the  main  reason  assigned  for  "observing  the 
eighth  day  with  gladness."  Whereas,  the  fanciful 
notions  concerning  the  creation  and  the  millennium 
constituted  the  main  reason  for  such  notice  of  the 
eighth  day.  Hence,  another  conclusion  must  be  ad- 
ded, viz.:  If  any  persons  joined  with  the  forger  of 
this' epistle  in  observing  the  eighth  day,  their  action 
was  predicated  on  grounds  very  far  removed  from 
common  sense,  and  from  the  Word  of  God. 

IGNATIUS. 

One  production  which  is  classed  with  the  "Apos- 
tolic Fathers  "  remains  to  be  examined— the  Epistle 
of  Ignatius  to  the  Magnesians.  This  production,  like 
that  attributed  to  Barnabas,  is  a  forgery,  and  the 
passage  adduced  in  favor  of  Sunday  is  caricatured 
into  a  seeming  reference  only  by  interpolating  the 
word  day.  In  support  of  these  statements,  we  offer 
the  following  testimony.  First,  the  passage  in  full, 
with  its  contexts.     It  is  as  follows: 

*  ApostoUc  Fathers,  Epistle  Barnabas,  cbap.  15,  Wake's 
Translation;  also,  Latin  Edition,  Dressel,  Leipsic,  lb5,.  also 
Clark's  Edition  Apostolic  Fathers,  p.  l^- 


42  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

"  Be  not  deceived  with  strange  doctrines,  nor  with 
old  fables,  which  are  unprofitable;  for  if  we  still 
continue  to  live  according  to  the  Jewish  law,  we  do 
confess  ourselves  not  to  have  received  grace.  For 
even  the  most  holy  prophets  lived  according  to 
Christ  Jesus;  and  for  this  cause  were  they  persecut- 
ed, being  inspired  by  his  grace  to  convince  the  un- 
believers and  disobedient  that  there  is  one  God  who 
has  manifested  himself  by  Jesus  Christ  his  Son.  .    . 

"  Wherefore,  if  they  who  were  brought  up  in 
these  ancient  laws,  came  nevertheless  to  the  newness 
of  hope,  no  longer  observing  Sabbaths,  but  keeping 
the  Lord's-day,  in  which  also  our  life  is  sprung  up 
by  him,  and  through  his  death,  whom  yet  some  deny, 
by  which  mystery  we  have  been  brought  to  believe, 
and  therefore  wait  that  we  may  be  found  the  disci 
pies  of  Jesus  Christ,  our  only  Master;  how  shall  we 
be  able  to  live  different  from  him,  whose  disciples 
the  very  prophets  themselves  being,  did  by  the  Spirit 
expect  him  as  their  Master.  And  therefore,  he  whom 
they  justly  Avaited  for,  being  come,  raised  them  up 
from  the  dead."* 

Without  noting  the  grammatical  construction  of 
the  sentence,  the  reader  will  see  that  the  passage  as 
it  reads  is  untruthful,  since  it  asserts  that  the  "  most 
holy  prophets"  ceased  to  keep  Sabbaths,  and  kept 
the  Lord's-day.  The  discussion  concerning  this  pas- 
sage in  Kitto's  Encyclopedia  of  Biblical  Literature 
(article  Lord's-day)  is  so  complete,  that  it  is  here 
quoted  somewhat  at  length,  as  follows: 

"  But  we  must  here  notice  one  other  passage  of 
earlier  date  than  any  of  these,  which  has  often  been 

*  I^atius  to  the  Magnesi^ns,  sees.  8,  9,  Wake's  Trans.;  for 
the  Latin,  see  Pat.  Apos.,  Dressel;  also,  Clark's  Edition  Apos- 
tolic Fathers,  p.  180.  (^lark  gives  also  the  longer  text,  into 
which  the  word  "  day  "  is  not  put. 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  43 

referred  to  as  beiiriug  on  the  subject  of  the  Lord[s- 
da}',  though  it  certainly  contains  no  mention  of  it. 
It  occurs  in  the  Epistle  of  Ignatius  to  the  Magnesi- 
ans  (about  A.  D.  100).  The  whole  passage  is  con- 
fessedly obscure,  and  the  text  may  be  corrupt.  It 
has,  however,  been  understood  in  a  totally  different 
sense,  and  as  referring  to  a  distinct  subject;  and  such 
we  confess  appears  to  us  to  be  the  most  obvious  and 
natural  construction  of  it. 
"  The  passage  is  as  follows: 

Ei  ovr  01  ev  naXaioiff  Ttpay/xadiv  ava- 
arf)aq)eyrea  eio"  Kaivorrjra  eXTTidoa  rjX- 
Bor — ^i-jxtxi  GaftpariZ^ovrea  dXXa  Hard 
HVpiaurv  ^Gjr}v  ^(^vra(j — ev  /)  nal  i)  Zooi] 
vfic^v  dvereiXev  6i^  avtoC  nai  rov  dava- 
rov  ax! rov  [or  rivea  dpvoivrai],  Si*  ov 
^varijpiov  i'Xaf3oiJ.eVy  .  ,  .  nc^ff  7}fj.ei0 
SvvrjaofxeOa  Z,i]6ai  X(^pi(^  avrov.   .   .   .* 

"Now,  many  commentators  assume  (on  what 
ground  does  not  appear)  that  after  KVpiaJi7]y 
the  w^ord  imepav   is  to  be  understood.     On  this 

hypothesis  they  endeavor  to  make  the  rest  of  the 
sentence  accord  with  a  reference  to  the  observance 
of  the  Lord's-day,  by  further  supposing  fV  /)  to  re- 
fer to  jijjLtpa  understood,  and  the  whole  to  be  put 
in  contrast  with  (jaftf:iariCovre<j,  in  the  former 
clause.  For  opinions  in  support  of  this  view,  the 
reader  is  referred  to  the  Notes  in  Jacobson's  edition, 

P'  ^^'^#  ***** 

*  Ignatius  ad  Magnesias,  sec.  9,  Jacobson's  Patres  Apost.  2. 
322,  Oxford,  1&40. 


44  SABBATH    AXD    SUNDAY. 

' '  Let  us  now  look  at  the  passage  simply  as  it 
stands.  The  defect  of  the  sentence  is  the  want  of  a 
substantive  to  which  o'zJro?)  can  refer.  This  de- 
fect, so  far  from  being  remedied,  is  rendered  still 
more  glaring,  by  the  introduction  of  rjjxkpa. 
Now,  if  we  take  Kvpiaxr}  Ccorj  as  simply  '  the  life 
of  the  Lord,'  having  a  more  personal  meaning,  it 
certainly  goes  nearer  to  supplying  the  substantive  to 
avrov.  Again,  ey  rj  may  well  refer  to  Cgdj^, 
and  KvpiaiiT]  Codtj,  meaning  our  Lord's  life,  as 
emphatically  including  his  resurrection,  (as  in  Rom. 
5:  10,  etc.,)  presents  precisely  the  same  analogy  to 
spiritual  life  of  the  Christian  as  is  conveyed  both  in 
Rom.  5,  Coloss.  3:  3,  4,  and  many ,  other  passages. 
Thus,  upon  the  whole,  the  meaning  might  be  given 
thus: 

"'If  those  who  lived  under  the  old  dispensation 
have  come  to  the  newness  of  hope,  no  longer  keep- 
ing Sabbaths,  but  living  according  to  our  Lord's  life, 
(in  which,  as  it  were,  our  life  has  risen  again,  through 
him,  and  his  death,  [which  some  denj'^],  through 
whom  we  have  received  the  mystery,  etc. ,  .  .  .)  how 
shall  we  be  able  to  live  without  him? '  etc. 

"  In  this  way  (allowing  for  the  involved  style  of 
the  whole)  the  meaning  seems  to  us  simple,  consist- 
ent, and  grammatical,  without  any  gratuitous  intro- 
duction of  words  understood;  and  this  view  has 
been  followed  by  many,  though  it  is  a  subject  on 
which  considerable  controversy  has  existed.  On 
this  view,  the  passage  does  not  refer  at  all  to  the 
Lord's-day;  but  even  on  the  opposite  supposition,  it 
cannot  be  regarded  as  affording  any  positive  evidence 
to  the  early  use  of  the  term  '  Lord's-day  '  (for  which 
it  is  often  cited)  since  the  material  word  rf^epa 
is  purely  conjectural.  It  however  offers  an  instance 
of  that  species  of  contrast  which  the  early  fathers 


SABBATH    ANL>    SUKDAY.  45 

were  so  fond  of  drawing  between  the  Christian  and 
Jewish  dispensations,  and  between  the  new  life  of 
the  Christian  and  the  ceremonial  spirit  of  the  law,  to 
which  the  Lord's-day  (if  it  be  imagined  to  be  referred 
to)  is  represented  as  opposed." 

The  foregoing  rendering  and  interpretation  are 
fuUj^  sustained  by  a  late  writer  of  high  authority 
concerning  Sunday,  James  Augustus  Hessey,  D. 
C.  L.  Relative  to  the  passage  under  consideration, 
he  says: 

"Here  is  a  passage  from  his  Epistle  to  the  Mag- 
nesians,  containing,  as  you  will  observe,  a  contrast 
between  Judaism  and  Christianity,  and,  as  an  ex- 
emplification of  it,  an  opposition  between  sabbatiz- 
ing  and  living  the  life  of  the  Lord.  ...  If  they, 
then,  who  were  concerned  in  old  things,  arrived  at  a 
newness  of  hope,  no  longer  observing  the  Sabbath, 
but  living  according  to  the  Lord's  life,  by  which  our 
life  sprung  up  by  him,  and  by  his  death,  .  .  .  how 
can  we  live  without  him,"  etc.* 

Sir  William  Domville,  makes  the  following  just 
criticism: 

' '  It  seems  not  a  little  strange  that  the  Archbishop 
should  so  widely  depart  from  the  literal  translation, 
which  is  this:  'No  longer  observing  Sabbaths,  but 
living  according  to  the  Lord's  life,  in  which  also  our 
life  is  sprung  up. '  For  there  is  no  phrase  or  word 
in  the  original  which  corresponds  to  the  phrase,  'the 
Lord's-day,'  or  to  the  word  'keeping.'  In  a  note  re- 
ferring to  this  word,  the  Archbishop  says:  'Or  liv- 
ing according  to;'  so  that  he  acknowledges  this  trans- 
lation would  be  correct,  but  the  consequence  of  his 
throwing  it  into  a  note  is  to  lead  the  reader  to  sup- 
pose that,  though  the  original  may  be  so   translated, 

*  Bampton  Lectures,  preached  before  the  University  of 
Oxford,  in  the  year  1860,  p.  41. 


46  SABBATH    X:SD    SUNDAY. 

the  probable  translation  is  that  which  is  given  in  the 
text,  when  in  truth,  so  far  from  being  a  preferable 
translation  it  is  no  translation  at  all."* 

This  examination  of  the  passage  has  been  made 
thus  full  in  order  to  show  that  there  is  no  reference 
to  Sunday-keeping  except  by  a  fraudulent  and  un- 
scholarly  translation,  and  by  interpolation.  The 
examination  has  also  proceeded  upon  the  supposition 
that  the  epistle  is  genuine.  That  it  is  not  genuine  will 
fully  appear  from  the  following  testimony: 

Dr.  Killen,  gives  the  following  history  of  the  epis- 
tles ascribed  to  Ignatms: 

"In  the  sixeenth  cetatury,  fifteen  letters  were 
brought  out  from  beneath  the  hoary  mantle  of  an- 
tiquity, and  offered  to  the  world  as  the  productions 
of  the  pastor  of  Antioch.  Scholars  refused  to  re- 
ceive them  on  the  terms  required,  and  forthwith 
eight  of  them  were  admitted  to  be  forgeries.  In  the 
seventeeth  century,  the  seven  remaining  letters,  in 
a  somewhat  altered  form,  again  came  forth  from 
obscurity,  and  claimed  to  be  the  works  of  Ignatius. 
Again  discerning  critics  refused  to  acknowledge  their 
pretensions;  but  curiosity  was  aroused  by  this  second 
apparition,  and  many  expressed  an  earnest  desire  to 
obtain  a  sight  of  the  real  epistles.  Greece,  Syria, 
Palestine,  and  Egypt  were  ransacked  in  search  of 
them,  and  at  length  three  letters  are  found.  The 
discovery  creates  general  gratulation;  it  is  confessed 
that  four  of  the  epistles,  so  lately  asserted  to  be  gen- 
uine, are  apocryphal,  and  it  is  boldly  said  that  the 
three  now  forthcoming  are  above  challenge.  But 
truth  still  refuses  to  be  compromised,  and  sternly 
disowns  these  claimants  for  her  approbation.  The 
internal  evidence  of  these  three  epistles  abundantly 

*  Sabbath,  etc.,  p.  242. 


SABBATH    AXD    SUJ^DAY.  47 

attests  that,  like  the  last  three  books  of  the  Sibyl, 
they  are  only  the  last  shifts  of  a  grave  imposture."* 

In  a  note,  Doctor  Killen  adds  that  "  Bunsen  rather 
reluctantly  admits  that  thehighest  literary  authority 
of  the  present  century,  the  late  Dr.  Neander,  de- 
clined to  recognize  even  the  Syriac  version  of  the 
Ignatian  Epistles." 

Rev.  Lyman  Coleman,  testifies  in  the  following 
words: 

'  •  Certam  it  is  that  these  epistles,  if  not  an  entire 
forgery,  are  so  filled  with  interpolations  and  forgeries 
as  to  be  of  no  historical  value  with  reference  to^  the 
primitive  Christians  and  the  apostolic  churches,  "f 

John  Calvin  says: 

"  Nothing  can  be  more  absurd  than  the  imperti- 
nences which  have  been  published  under  the  name  of 
Ignatius."  t 

Rev.  Roswell  D.  Hitchcock,  D.  D.,  Professor  of 
Church  History  in  Union  Theological  Seminary, 
New  York,  in  an  article  on  the  "  Origin  and  Growth 
of  Episcopacy,"  sums  up  the  case  as  follows: 

1.  "Killen,  the  Irish  Presbyterian,  thinks  these 
Ignatian  epistles  all  spurious,  but  is  of  the  opinion 
that  the  Syriac  three  were  the  first  to  be  forged  in 
the  time  of  Origen  [185-254  A.  D.],  soon  after  which 
they  were  translated  into  Greek,  and  others  were 
added  before  the  time  of  Eusebius,  who  is  admitted 
to  have  had  the  seven. 

2.  "  Baur  and  Hilgenfeld  think  them  all  spurious, 
but  are  of  the  opinion  that  the  seven  of  the  shorter 
Greek  recensions  were  the  first  to  be  forged  after  150 

*  Ancient  Church,  sec.  2,  chap.  3. 

+  Ancient  Christianity  Exemplified,  chap.  1,  sec  2. 

X  Institutes-',  Book  1 ,  chapter  13. 


48  SABBATH    AND    SUl^DAY. 

A.   D.,  and  that  the  Syriac  three  are  simply  frag- 
mentary translations  from  the  Greek. 

3.  "  Cureton,  Bunsen,  Ritschel,  and  Lipsius,  con- 
tend for  the  genuineness  of  the  Syriac  three.  This, 
as  the  matter  now  stands,  appears  to  be  the  weakest 
position  of  all. 

4.  "  A  strong  array  of  the  ablest  and  soundest 
critics,  both  Roman  Catholic  and  Protestant,  such 
as  Moehler  and  Gieseler,  Hefele  and  Uhlhorn,  may 
still  be  found  on  the  side  of  the  shorter  Greek  re- 
cension."* 

The  following  conclusions  seem  to  be  just  and 
imperative: 

1.  The  Epistle  of  Ignatius  to  the  Magnesians  is  a 
forgery,  made  long  after  the  death  of  Ignatius. 

2.  It  makes  no  mention  of  the  Sunday  or  Lord's- 
day. 

3.  To  interpolate  the  word  day  in  the  oft-quoted 
passage  perverts  the  meaning,  and  destroys  the  gram- 
matical arrangement  of  the  sentence. 

Thus  it  appears  that  there  is  absolutely  no  explicit 
testimony  in  favor  of  Sunday,  or  the  Lord's-day  as 
referring  to  Sunday,  by  any  of  the  "Apostolic  Fa- 
thers."   This  conclusion,  so  at  variance  with  the 
l]  popular  notion,  invites  criticism.     It  is  based  on  the 
authorities  quoted  above,  and  is  not  the  simple  con- 
clusion of  the  author  of  these  pages.     The  popular 
view  has  been  accepted  by  those  who  have  not  ex- 
amined the  case  critically,  as  much  else  is  accepted 
\\   which  comes  to  us  dust  covered  and  surrounded  by 
i  the  shadows  of  the  past.     It  will  not  bear  the  day- 
light of  careful  examination. 

*  American  Presbyterian  and  Theological  Eexiew,  January , 


CHAPTER  Vll. 
Pliny's  Letter  to  Trajan,  and 


A  K 


AMOus  Falsehood. 


Early  in  the  second  century,  Pliny  the  Younger, 
then  governor  of  Bythinia,  wrote  to  the  Emperor 
Trajan  (about  107  A.  D.)  asking  advice  concerning 
the  complaints  which  were  made  to  him  relative  to 
the  Christians  in  his  province.  After  stating  the 
points  on  which  he  desired  counsel,  he  says: 

' '  In  the  meanwhile,  the  method  I  have  observed 
towards  those  who  have  been  brought  before  me  as 
Christians  is  this:  I  interrogated  them  whether  they 
were  Christians?  If  they  confessed,  I  repeated  the 
question  twice  again,adding  threats  at  the  same  time; 
when,  if  they  still  persevered,  I  ordered  them  to  be 
iminedialely  punished;  for  I  was  persuaded,  whatever 
the  nature  of  their  opinions  might  be,  a  contumacious 
and  inflexible obstinac}"  certainly  deserved  correction. 
Tliere  were  others  also  brought  before  me  possessed 
with  the  same  infatuation,  but  being  citizens  of  Rome, 
I  directed  them  to  be  carried  thither.  But  this  crime 
spreading  (as  is  usually  the  case),  while  it  was  actu- 
ally under  prosecution,  several  instances  of  the 
same  nature  occurred.  An  information  was  present 
ed  to  me  without  any  name  subscribed,  containing  a 
charge  aijainst  several  persons,  who  upon  examina 
tion  denied  they  were  Christians,  or  ever  had  been. 
They  repeated  after  me  an  invocation  to  the  gods, 
and  offered  religious  rites  with  wine  and  frankin- 
cense before  }  our  statue   (which  for  this  purpose   1 

(4) 


50  SABBATH     ASl)    SUNDAY. 

had  ordered  to  be  brought,  together  with  those  of  the 
gods),  and  even  reviled  the  name  of  Christ;  Where 
as  there  is  no  forcing,  it  is  said,  those  who  are  really 
Christians,  into  a  compliance  with  any  of  these  arti  - 
cles;  I  thought  proper,  therefore,  to  discharge  them. 
Some  among  those  who  were  accused  by  a  witness 
in  person,  at  first  confessed  themselves  Christians, 
but  immediately  after  denied  it;  while  the  rest 
owned  indeed  that  they  had  been  of  that  number 
formerly,  but  had  now,  (some  above  three,  others 
more,  and  a  few  above  twenty  years  ago)  forsaken 
that  error.  They  all  worshiped  your  statue  and  the 
images  of  the  gods,  throwing  out  imprecations  at 
^he  same  time  against  the  name  of  Christ. 

"They  affirmed  that  the  whole  of  their  guilt  or 
jrror  was,  that  they  met  on  a  certain  si  ated  day  be 
fore  it  was  light,  and  addressed  themselves  in  a  form 
'of  pi  ay er  to  Christ,  as  to  some  God,  binding  them- 
selves by  a  solemn  oath,  not  for  the  purposes  ol  any 
wicked  design,  but  never  to  commit  any  fraud,  theft, 
or  adultery;  never  to  falsify  their  word,  nor  deny  a 
trust  when  they  should  be  called  upon  to  deliver  it 
up;  after  which  it  was  their  custom  to  separate,  and 
then  reassemble  to  eat  in  common  a  harmless  meal. 
From  this  custom,  however,  they  desisted  after  the 
publication  of  my  edict,  by  which,  according  to 
your  orders,  I  forbade  the  meeting  of  any  assem 
blies.  "* 

The  claim  which  is  made  concerning  this  extract, 
is,  that  the  certain  "stated  day,"  was  Sunday.  But 
when  it  is  remembered  that  the  Bythinian  churches 
were  probably  organized  by  Peter  at  a  time  when 
the  observance  of  the  Sabbath,  was  a  common  practice 
of  the  apostles,  it  is  practically  certain  that  the  "  stated 
day  "  was  the  seventh  day.     This  view  is  supported 

*  Pliny's  Letters,  B.  x..  Epistle  97,  Melmotli's  Translation. 


SABBATH    AND     SUNDAY.  51 

by  natural  inferences,  and  general  facts,  relative  to 
the  observance  of  the  seventh  day  which  continued 
in  the  church  for  some  centuries  after  the  date  of 
Pliny's  letter.  Bohmer,(as  quoted  by  Holden,  p.  292,) 
takes  this  view.  Gesner  in  his  notes  on  Pliny  con 
curs  with  this  view."* 

"DOMINICUM   SERVASTI." 

Such  use  has  been  made  of  a  certain  spurious 
claim,  concerning  the  questions  put  to  the  early 
martyrs,  that  it  demands  special  attention  at  this 
point.  Mr.  Gilfillan,  Mr.  Gurney,  and  others  have 
used  the  claim  to  support  the  idea  that  the  ' '  stated 
day"  of  Pliny,  was  the  Sunday,  or  that  Sunday- 
keeping  was  a  cause  for  martyrdom  at  a  very  early 
period.  Mr.  Giltillan  asserts  that  the  enmity  be 
tween  the  early  Christians  and  the  Jews,  arose  from 
the  change  of  the  "Sabbatic-day."  This  assertion 
is  followed  by  these  words: 

"  The  Romans,  though  they  had  no  objection  om 
this  score,  punished  the  Christians  for  the  faithful  I 
observance  of  their  day  of  rest,  one  of  the  testing ' 
questions  put  to  the  martyrs  being,  Dominicum  ser- 
uastif — Have  you  kept  the  Lord's  day?  Such,  how- 
ever, was  the  success  of  truth,  and  of  the  example  of 
these  good  men,  that  the  Lord*s-day  soon  passed  from 
being  an  object  of  opprobrium  into  a  law  of  a  great 
empire.  And  Julian  himself  was  so  impressed  with 
the  power  of  its  arrangement  of  rest  and  instruction 
as  to  contemplate  the  adoption  of  a  similar  provision 
for  reviving  and  propagating  heathen  error,  "f 

This  statement  has  been  termed  "a  famous  false- 

*  See  Hessev.  Sunday,  p.  370,  and  Cox,  Sabbath  Literature. 
Vol.  1.  p.  297.  ■  +  Sabbath,  etc.,  p.  7. 


52  SABBATH     AND    SUNDAY. 

hood."  We  are  not  ready  to  assume  that  Mr.  Gil 
fillan,  and  others  who  have  repeated  the  statement, 
80  imderi-tood,  or  designed  it.  But  the  facts  given 
below,  &how  that  anxiety  to  find  support  for  Sunday 
in  the  early  times,  and  incomplete  knowledge,  or 
both,  have  ltd  them  into  a  great  error.  Mr.  Gilfillan 
gives  as  authority,*  C'^rtw/i,  An  Ecdes,  A.  D.  303, 
Num.  35,"  etc.),  which  will  be  examined.  Mr. 
Gurney  shapes  his  effort  as  follows: 

"But  what  was  the  stated  day  when  these  things 
took  place?  Clearly,  the.^'r.s^  day  of  the  week;  as  is 
proved  by  the  very  question  which  it  was  customary 
for  the  Roman  persecutors  to  address  to  the  martyrs, 
viz.,  Doniinicum  servasti^ — 'Hast  thou  kept  the 
Lord's-day  ? '  To  which  the  answer  usually  returned 
was,  in  substance,  as  follows:  Christianus  sum,  inter- 
mittere  non  possum — '  I  am  a  Christian,  I  can  not 
omit  it.'"* 

In  a  foot  note  Mr.  Gurney  gives  his  authority  as 
follows:  "Acts  of  Martyrs  in  Bishop  Andrews  on 
the  Ten  Commandments,  p.  264."  Concerning  this 
reference  we  have  made  careful  examination  and 
found  the  following  facts.  The  full  title  of  the 
work  to  which  Mr.  Gurney  evidently  refers  is  as  fol- 
lows: "  The  Pattern  of  Catechistical  Doctrine  at  large; 
or  a  learned  and  pious  Exposition  of  the  Ten  Com- 
mandments." In  this  work,  at  the  place  cited,  there 
is  made  an  effort  to  prove  that  the  term  '"Lord's 
day,"  Rev.  1:  10,  means  Sunday.  In  connection 
with  that  discussion  the  following  passage  appears: 

"A  thing  so  notorious,  so  well  known  even  to  the 
*  Brief  Remarks  on  the  History,  etc.  of  the  Sabbath,  p.  36. 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  53 

heathen  themselves,  as  it  was  (in  the  Acts  of  the 
Martyrs)  ever  an  usual  question  of  theirs  (even  of 
course)  in  their  examining;  what?  Dommicum  ser- 
uisti? — 'Hold  you  the  Sunday?'  and  their  answer 
known;  they  all  aver  it.  Ghrutianiis  sum,  inter- 
mittere  non  possum — *  I  am  a  Christian;  I  can  not  in- 
termit it,  not  the  Lord's-day  in  anywise.'  These  are 
examples  enough." 

Thus  we  reach  the  exact  words  referred  to  by  Mr. 
Gurney.  But  we  find  also  another  important  fact. 
This  "  Pattern  of  Catechistical  Doctrine"  was  a  post- 
humous work.  The  manuscript  was  not  complete 
when  Bishop  Andrews  died,  and  the  editor  made 
such  additions  as  he  deemed  best  from  the  material 
left  by  the  Bishop.  The  passage  above  is  taken  from 
a  printed  speech  made  by  the  Bishop  against  Thraske, 
an  English  Seventh-day  Baptist,  who  was  tried  be- 
fore the  "Star  Chamber"  Court  for  maintaining 
that  Christians  were  bound  to  keep  the  seventh  day 
Sabbath,  etc.  The  Bishop  died  in  1626.  and  his 
speech  against  Thraske  was  not  published  until  1629. 
It  was,  therefore,  as  well  as  the  "Pattern  of  Cate- 
chistical Doctrine,"  a  "  posthumous  publication."  It 
is  probable  that  it  was  printed  from  some  rough  out- 
line of  his  speech,  found  among  his  papers;  for  it  is 
one  of  several  tracts  attributed  to  the  Bishop,  and 
collected  in  a  small  volume  entitled,  "  Opuscula  quae- 
dam  posthuma." 

On  pages  131  and  132  of  a  work  in  favor  of  Sunday, 
written  by  William  Twisse,  D.  D. ,  of  the  English 
Church,  and  published  at  London  in  1641,  about  ten 
or  twelve  years  after   the   publication  of   Andrews' 


54  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

work,  is  the  same  quotation,  whicli  Twisse  says  is 
from  Andrews'  speech  against  Thraske  in  the  court 
of  the  Star  Chamber.  In  the  history  of  the  trial  of 
Thraske  as  given  by  a  contemporary,*  the  same 
passage  is  quoted  from  Bishop  Andrews'  speech 
against  him. 

In  this  speech,  the  Bishop  labors  to  prove  that  the 
seventh  day  was  early  changed  for  the  first  by 
Christians.  In  the  course  of  that  discussion,  he 
makes  the  statement  quoted  above.  (The  passage 
from  the  speech  against  Thraske  and  hence  the  ref- 
erence to  Dominicum  servasti  does  not  appear  in  the 
Parker  Edition  of  Andrews'  "Works," — Oxford 
1846 — nor  in  the  Revised  Catechetical  Doctrine  pub- 
lished in  1852.  Thus  does  the  myth  vanish  which 
has  been  so  long  used  as  a  foundation  for  the  claim 
that  the  "  stated  day  "  of  Pliny  was  Sunday.) 

But  the  case  is  made  still  more  unsatisfactory 
when  we  search  for  the  authority  on  which  Bishop 
Andrews  made  his  loose  statement.  He  refers  to 
the  Acts  of  the  Martyrs  only  in  a  general  way,  citing 
no  instance  wherein  such  a  question  was  asked.  Care- 
ful search  reveals  the  fact  that  no  such  question  is 
anywhere  recorded.  Domville  states  the  result  of 
his  researches  as  follows  :f 

"The  most  complete  collection  of  the  memoirs 
and  legends  still  extant  relative  to  the  lives  and  suf- 
ferings of  the  Christian  martyrs,  is  that  of  Ruinart, 
entitled,  '  Acta  primorum  Martyrum,  sincera  et  selec- 

*  Paggit  Herisiography,  p.  20,  London,  1661. 
t  For  Domville's  entire  discussion,  see  Examination  of  the 
Six  Texts,  pp.  251-273. 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  00 

ta.'  I  have  myself  carefully  consulted  that  work, 
and  I  take  it  upon  myself  to  affirm,  that  among  the 
questions  there  stated  to  have  been  put  to  the  mar- 
tyrs, in  and  before  the  time  of  Pliny,  and  for  nearly 
two  hundred  years  afterwards,  the  question,  Domin- 
icum  servasti?  does  not  once  occur,  or  any  equivalent 
question,  such,  for  instance,  as  Dominic umcelebi\isii? 

' '  It  can  not  be  expected  that  I  should  quote  in 
proof  of  my  assertion  all  the  questions  put  to  the 
martyrs  in  all  the  martyrdoms,  (above  one  hundred 
in  number)  recorded  in  Ruin  art;  but  I  will  do  this,  I 
will  state  all  the  questions  that  were  put  to  the  mar- 
tyrs in  and  before  Pliny's  time." 

Having  stated  these  questions,  Domville  continues: 

"  This  much  may  suffice  to  show  that  Dominicum 
servastif  was  no  question  in  Pliny's  time,  as  Mr. 
Gurney  intends  us  to  believe  it  was.  I  have  how 
ever  still  other  proof  to  offer  of  Mr.  Gurney 's  unfair 
dealing  with  the  subject,  but  I  defer  stating  it  for 
the  present,  that  I  may  proceed  in  the  inquiry,  what 
may  have  been  the  authority  on  which  Bishop  An- 
drews relied  when  stating  that  Dominicum  serdasti? 
was  ever  a  usual  question  put  by  the  heathen  perse- 
cutors. I  shall  with  this  view  pass  over  the  martyr- 
doms which  intervened  between  Pliny's  time  and  the 
fourth  century,  as  they  contain  nothing  to  the  pur 
pose,  and  shall  come  at  once  to  that  martyrdom,  the 
narrative  of  which  was,  I  have  no  doubt,  the  source 
from  which  Bishop  A.ndrews  derived  his  question, 
Dominicum  sermstif  '  Hold  you  the  Lord's-day? ' 
This  martyrdom  happened  A.  D.  304.  (Baronius  puts 
it  one  year  earlier. — a.  h.  l.)  The  sufferers  were 
r^aturninus  and  his  four  sons,  and  several  other  per- 
sons. They  were  taken  to  Carthage  and  brought 
before  the  proconsul  Amulinus.  In  the  account  giv- 
en of  their  examination  by  him,  the  phrases  '  Cele- 
brare  dominicuni,'  and  '  agere  dominicum.'  frequently 
occur,  but  in  no  instance  is  the  verb  servare  used  in 


56  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

reference  to  dominicum  I  mention  this  chiefly  to 
show  that  when  Bishop  Andrews,  alluding,  as  no 
doubt  he  does,  to  the  narrative  of  this  martyidom. 
sa)  8  the  question  was  Dominicum  sermsti?  it  is  very 
clear  he  had  not  his  author  at  hand,  and  that,  in 
trusting  to  his  memory,  he  coined  a  phrase  of  his 
own." 

After  quoting  the  questions  put  at  this  trial,  in 
which  the  term  Dominicum  is  used,  and  the  answers 
which  were  made  by  the  martyrs,  Domville  adds: 

"The  narrative  of  the  martyrdom  of  Saturninus 
and  his  fellow  sufferers  being  the  only  one  which  has 
the  appearance  of  supporting  the  assertion  of  Bishop 
Andrews  that  'Hold  you  the  Lord's  day?'  was  a 
usual  question  to  the  martyrs,  what  if  I  should 
prove  that  even  this  narrative  affords  no  support  to 
that  assertion.  Yet  nothing  is  more  easy  than  this 
proof;  for  Bishop  Andrews  has  quite  mistaken  the 
meaning  of  the  word  dominicum,  in  translating  it 
'  the  Lord's-day.'  It  had  no  such  meaning.  It  was  a 
barbarous  word,  in  use  among  some  of  the  ecclesiastical 
writers  in  and  subsequent  to  the  fourth  century,  to 
express,  sometimes  a  church,  and  at  other  times  the 
Lord's  Sapper;  but  never  the  Lord's-day,  My  au- 
thorities on  this  point  are:  1.  Ruinart,  (tiie  compiler 
of  the  work  entitled.  'Acts  of  the  Martyrs,'  etc.,) 
who.  upon  the  word  dominicum,  in  the  narrative  of 
the  martyrdom  of  Saturninus,  has  a  note  in  which 
he  sa}  s  it  is  a  word  signifying  the  Lord's  Supper, 
{Dominicum  tero  designat  mcra  m.ysteritt,)  and  he 
quotes  Tertullian  and  Cyprian  in  support  of  tliis  in- 
terpretatl  )n.  [This  testimony  from  Kuinart  is  con- 
clusive concerning  the  meaning  of  the  term  domin- 
icum. In  .-mother  note  upon  a  passage  in  which  the 
word  occurs,  he  also  says  that  some  manuscripts 
have  Dominica  mcramenta.']  2.  The  editors  of  the 
Benedictine  edition  of  St.  Augustine's  works.  They 
state  that  the  word  has  the  two  meanings  of  a  church 


SxVBBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  0/ 

and  the  Lord's  Supper.  For  the  former  they  quote 
among  other  authorities  a  canon  of  the  council  of 
Neo-aesarea.  For  the  latter  meatiing  they  quote 
Cyprian,  and  refer  also  to  St.  Augustine's  account 
of  bis  conference  with  the  Donatists  in  which  allu- 
sion is  made  to  the  narrative  of  the  martyrdom  of 
Saturninus.*  3.  Gesner  who,  in  his  Latin  Thesau- 
rus published  in  1749,  gives  both  meanings  to  the 
word  clominicum.  For  that  of  the  Lords  Supper 
he  quotes  Cvprian;  for  that  of  a  church  he  quotes 
Cyprian  and  also  Hillary." 

Tn  addition  to  the  foregoing  it  may  be  added 
that  dominicum  is  not  an  adjective  of  which  diem  is 
the  understood  substantive.  In  the  narrative  of  the 
trial  of  Saturninus  it  is  used  as  a  neuter  svhstantive 
as  the  following  sentence  shows:  Quia  non  potest  in- 
termitti  dominicum. 

From  the  foregoing  facts,  the  following  conclu- 
clusions  are  legitimately  drawn : 

1.  Bishop  Andrews;  in  his  speech  against  Thraske 
before  the  court  of  the  Star  Chamber  in  1618,  made 
a  general  reference  to  the  "  Acts  of  the  Martyrs,"  as 
authority  for  a  loosely  made  statement  relative  to  the 
question  Dominicum  servasHF  A  careful  examina- 
tion of  the  best  edition  of  that  work  shows  that  no 
such  question  was  ever  used;  that  one  somewhat 
similar  was  used  at  a  trial  long  after  the  time  when 
Pliny  wrote  his  statement  concerning  a  "stated  day," 
in  which  quotation  the  Lord's  Supper  and  not  the 
Lord's  day  is  referred  to. 

2.  Mr.  Gurney,  Dr.  Dwight,  and  others,  have  re- 
ferred to  Bishop  Andrews'  speech  and  to  Pliny's  let- 
*Voir5,  pp.  116,  117,  Antwerp,  1700. 


58  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

ter  in  such  a  way  as  to  lead  their  readers  into  a  very 
grave  error  concerning  the  whole  matter. 

We  now  come  to  Mr.  Gilfi  Han's  statements, 
which  be  it  remembered,  have  been  published  since 
Sir  Domville  made  such  a  complete  exposure  in  re- 
gard to  the  passage.  Read  again  what  he  says  above. 
(Cardinal  Baronius  was  a  Romish  Annalist,  who 
wrote  about  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury. Bingham, in  Antiquities  of  the  Christian  Chuich, 
refers  to  an  edition  published  at  Antwerp,  in  1610.) 
Thus  by  a  change  of  tactics,  Mr.  Gilfillan  attempts 
to  evade  the  force  of  the  exposure  made  by  Sir  Dom- 
ville, relative  to  Bishop  Andrews'  reference  to  the 
"  Acts  of  the  Martyrs,"  and  so  to  save  the  much- 
loved  Dominicum  servastif  By  noting  the  date,  A. 
D.  303,  the  reader  will  see  that  he  is  obliged  to  ad- 
mit the  main  item,  namely,  that  the  question  was 
not  put  until  the  fourth  century,  and  hence  can  have 
no  bearing  upon  the  "stated  day  "referred  toby 
Pliny.  But  worse  than  this  is  the  fact  that  Baronius 
does  not  support  Mr.  Gilfillan's  claim,  and  so  leaves 
him  liable  to  very  grave  charges  as  to  honesty,  or 
carelessness.  The  account  given  by  Baronius  shows 
that  he  copied  from  the  "  Acts  of  Martyrs,"  from 
whicL  abundant  testimony  has  been  given,  showing 
that  Dominicum  was  used  to  indicate  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per. Baronius,  in  the  place  referred  to  by  Gilfillan, 
and  its  contexts,  gives  the  history  of  the  martyrdom 
of  Saturninus  and  his  companions,  evidently  the 
same  account  which  Domville  has  so  carefully  sifted, 
Baronius  gives  the  representative  questions   which 


SABBATH    AXD    SUNDAY.  59 

were  put  to  the  prisoners,  whose  arrest  was  made 
because  they  had  celebrated  the  Lord's  Supjier  against 
the  command  of  the  Emperor.  JDominicum  SLnd  Col- 
lectam  are  used  as  equivalent  in  these  questions,  and 
always  in  such  connections  as  indicate  a  rite  per- 
formed in  Christian  assemblies.  But  the  case  is 
rendered  still  plainer  by  the  fact  that  Baronius  de- 
fines these  terms  when  he  records  the  account  of  this 
trial,  in  which  they  were  used.  He  says:  "By  the 
words,  Collectam,  Collectionem,  and  Dominieum,  the 
author  always  understands  the  sacrifice  of  the  Mass,  "* 
In  concluding  the  account  of  the  martyrdom  of  this 
company,  he  says: 

' '  It  has  been  shown  above,  in  relating  these  things, 
that  the  Christians  were  moved,  even  in  the  time  of 
severe  persecution,  to  celebrate  the  Dominieum.  Ev- 
idently, as  we  have  declared  elsewhere  in  many 
places,  it  was  a  sacrifice  without  bloodshed,  and  of 
divine  appointment."! 

We  should  not  have  discussed  this  extract  from 
Pliny  at  such  length,  except  for  the  necessity  of  ex- 
posing the  mistake  into  which  many  writers  have 
fallen  in  seeking  to  prove  that  the  * '  stated  day " 
mentioned  was  Sunday.  The  only  positive  knowl- 
edge that  can  be  obtained  is  found  in  the  text  itself, 
which  shows  that  in  Bythinia  the  Christians  met  on 
some  "stated  day,"  weekly,  or  otherwise;  and  that 
on  the  order  from  the  governor,  they  desisted  from 
the  prfictice. 

*  Baronius,  Tome  2,  A.  D.  303,  No.  29,  p.  884,  Venetii,  1738. 
+  lb,  Id.,  No.  82,  p.  897. 


60  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

"TEACHING   OF    THE   APOSTLES." 

Lest  we  be  charged  with  ignoring  the  latest  dis- 
coveries, we  must  here  note  the  "  Teaching  of  the 
Apostles,"  which  has  lately  come  to  light.  When 
it  appeared,  a  few  proclaimed  triumphantl}',  that 
the  early  observance  of  the  "Lord's  day"  was  now 
stttled.  The  facts  do  not  support  any  such  conclu- 
sion. 

When  the  document  first  appeared,  after  a  careful 
study  of  it  and  its  surroundings,  we  spoke  of  it  as 
follows: 

' '  Some  general  facts  need  to  be  remembered  as  a 
preface  to  all  investigation  concerning  the  '  Teach- 
ing.' 

"(a)  The  few  meager  references  to  it  by  early 
writers,  and  the  long  obscurity  which  has  covered 
it,  show  that  it  was  never  widely  known,  and  never 
held  a  prominent  place  in  the  post-apostolic  period. 

"(b)  So  far  as  genuineness  is  concerned,  if  is 
foun  I  in  bad  company.  Its  associations  are  against 
it.  By  genuineness  we  mean,  a  compilation  of  real 
Scripture  teachings  made  by  some  competent  hand, 
previous  to  120  or  160  A.  D. 

"(c)  It  claims  neither  date  nor  author.  'Leon, 
Notary  and  Sinner,'  luce,  6564,  /.  e.,  1056  A.  D  ,  is 
the  only  clue  we  have  to  any  one  connected  with  it. 
All  conclusions  must  therefore  be  based  upon  inter- 
nal characteristics,  and  collateral  tesliaiOLy.  Tak- 
ing up  the  matter  of  internal  evidence,  we  venture 
a  theory  which  will  form  at  least  a  working  hypoth- 
esis for  farther  investigations.     It  is  this: 

"  The  Teac\iny  consists  of  two  distinct  parts.  The 
first,  which  is  earliest  and  more  nearly  pure,  con- 
sists of  the  first  six  chapters,  which  are  wholly  di- 
dactic.     These  represent  the   genuine   'Teaching' 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  61 

The  second  portion,  chapters  7-16,  are  made  up  of 
fragments  from  other  writings,  and  of  references  to 
practices  and  notions  of  later  and  11 definite  dale, 
and  not  necessarily  contemporaneous.  The  grounds 
on  which  we  base  this  hypothesis  are  as  follows: 

"1,  The  work  has  two  titles.  The  first  appears 
to  be  an  abridgment  of  the  second,  and  from  anf  th- 
er  hand.  Even  the  second  refers  not  to  the  whole 
book,  but  to  the  first  six  chapters.  This  fact  alone 
must  continue  to  constitute  a  definite  argument 
against  the  unity  of  the  book,  and  against  the  gen- 
uineness of  the  second  part.  Comparison  of  the 
two  portions  with  each  other,  and  with  the  New 
Testament  will  also  show  certain  interpolations  in 
the  earlier  portions,  made  to  bring  it  into  more  ap 
parent  harmony  with  the  latter. 

"2.  The  internal  evidence  is  strongly  in  favor  of 
this  theory.  The  first  six  chapters  are  purely  didac 
tic.  They  are  made  up  almost  wholly  of  truths 
which  are  drawn  directly  from  the  Gospels  and  the 
Decalogue,  the  latter,  and  iis  summary  by  Christ, 
being  very  prominent.  Dr.  Smyth  says  of  it  as  a 
catechism: 

"'How  supreme  its  law  of  righteousness,  and 
pure  its  standard  of  morals.  Like  all  sound  cate- 
chisms, this  one  goes  back  to  the  Decalogue.  It 
takes  the  form  of  precept  and  injunction.  It  pro- 
hibits absolutely.  There  can  be  no  evangelical 
training  of  the  young  with  the  law  omitted.'* 

"These  six  chapters  are  also  complete  within 
themselves.  The}^  stand  related  to  practical  Chris- 
tian life,  and  to  the  rest  of  the  chapters,  like  a  high 
fertile  plateau  of  rich  pasture  land,  swept  by  the 
pure  breezes  of  heaven.  If  these  had  come  to  us 
alone,  with  iheir  appropriate  title,  no  one  woul  I 
have  thought  of  them  as  fragmentary  or  incompkte. 
They  would  have  shone  amtd  the  Patristic  writings 

*  Andover  Review,  April,  1884,  p.  435. 


62  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

like  a  single  rare  diamond  among  less  precious 
stones. 

'  '3.  The  additions  which  follow  the  sixth  chapter  are 
such  as  a  later  and  more  corrupt  age  would  naturally 
make.  Undoubtedly  the  catechism  was  designed  as, 
and  understood  to  be  the  antecedent  to  baptism,  not 
as  a  'confession  of  faith,' but  as  a  guide  to  life. 
Apostolic  and  sub-apostolic  Christianity  consisted  of 
a  life,  not  a  creed.  To  do,  not  to  believe,  was  the 
absorbing  thought.  As  ritualism  became  more 
prominent  and  the  church  passed  into  the  transition 
period  wherein  apostolic  Christianity  was  changed 
to  Patristic,  in  which  philosophy  did  much  abound, 
— under  such  circumstances  compiling  fingers  would 
itch  to  add  to  the  simple  catechism  the  developing 
notions  and  theories  concerning  Christian  life.  Nat- 
urally, therefore,  the  seventh  chapter  opens  with 
baptism,  the  event  for  which  the  catechism  was  the 
preparation.  The  change  between  the  sixth  and 
subsequent  chapters  is  more  than  the  change  from 
the  simple  didatic  to  the  ritual.  The  didactic  por- 
tion is  mainly  Scriptural;  the  ritualistic  is  not.  In- 
ferences aside,  and  the  second  part  of  the  Teaching 
will  not  bear  comparison  with  the  New  Testament 
on  many  points.  Baptism,  fasting,  the  eucharist, 
and  forms  of  prayer  form  ttie  themes  for  four  chap- 
ters— 7-10;  none  of  these  are  treated  with  reference 
to  their  higher  and  spiritual  significance,  but  rather 
from  the  stand-point  of  a  growing  ritualism.  The 
Lord's  Prayer,  with  the  Doxology  in  part,  is  or- 
dered *  three  times '  in  each  day  This  certainly 
marks  a  point  later  than  the  middle  of  the  second 
century. 

'*  The  11th  and  12th  chapters  give  directions  for 
the  reception  and  treatment  of  apostles  and  proph- 
ets, such  as  indicate  a  period  decidedly  post-apostol- 
ic. Christ  directed  his  disciples  to  abide  where 
they  firs';  entered  during  their  indefinite  stay  in  any 
city.     Paul  labored   weeks,  months,    and   years,  in 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  63 

specific  fields,  as  the  work  demanded.  But  this 
11th  chapter  forbids  an  apostle  to  remain  more  than 
one  day  unless  necessity  compel;  in  that  case  he 
may  stay  two  days  '  But  if  he  remain  three  days 
he  is  a  false  prophet.'  It  also  orders  that  when  he 
departs  he  shall  be  given  only  bread  enough  to  last 
until  he  lodge  again,  and  assures  us  that  if  he  asks 
for  money  he  is  a  false  prophet.  This  is  puerile. 
The  same  chapter  has  the  following  unmeaning  sen 
tence:  'And  no  prophet  who  orders  a  meal  in  the 
spirir,,  eateth  of  it,  unless  indeed  he  is  a  false  proph- 
et.' This  is  as  senseless  as  some  of  the  vagaries  of 
Barnabas  and  points  to  a  date  much  later  than  120 
A.  D.  .or  to  a  degeneracy  so  rapid  as  to  challenge 
credulity,'  etc.* 

When  we  thus  wrote,  so  far  as  we  knew,  no  critic 
had  taken  that  ground.  A  little  later  the  opinion  of 
Hilgenfeld  appeared,  as  follows: 

' '  I  seem  to  myself  to  have  found  the  original 
'Teaching  of  ihe  Apostles'  m  chapter  1:  1,  to  6:  2, 
(that  is,  from  the  beginning  to  the  words  '  But  con- 
cerning food,  etc.,')  but  here  and  there  a  little  al- 
tered, and  with  a  second  title  ('  The  Teaching  of  the 
Lord  through  the  Twelve  Apostles  \  conformed  to 
the  example  of  the  Apostolic  Constitutions.  But 
the  matters  that  we  read  therein  savor  of  a  certain 
Montanism  rather  than  oppose  it.  That  which  fol- 
lows the  original  '  Teaching  of  the  Apostles '  (chap- 
ters 6:  3,  to  16:  6),  which  is  directed  not  to  the  cate- 
chumens but  to  the  'faithful,'  (even  to  clergy,  7:  2) 
seems  to  be  a  later  addition,  ultimately  shaped  for 
the  use  of  Montanisin,"f 

A  few  months  later,  the  following  appeared, 
which  is  sufficient  to  settle  the  question  in  the  mind 

*Outlook  and  Sabbath  Quarterly,  July,  1884,  pp.  17,  18. 
•Tlie  Independent,  June  26,  1884. 


64  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

of  every  one,  not  blinded  by  prejudice,  or  incapaci- 
tated by  ignorance: 

"Bryennios  on  the  'Teaching.'" 

"  BY  PROF.  E.  A.  GROVENOR,  ROBERT  COLLEGE 
CONSTANTINOPLE. " 

"I  have  recently  enjoyed  two  interviews  with 
Bishop  Bryennios.  The  first  interview  lasted  niore 
than  two  hours,  the  second  not  so  long.  Both  were 
devoted  almost  entirely  to  conversation  concerning 
the  'Teiching.' 

"The  Bishop  expressed  himself  very  freely.  With 
interesting  minuteness,  he  dwelt  upon  his-  discovery 
of  Che  manuscript  and  upon  its  subsequent  history 
in  his  connection  with  it. 

"The  subject  which  h^  evidently  deemed  the 
most  import  mt,  he  discussed  with  special  emphasis. 
Tills  was  concerning  the  relative  value  of  different 
portions  of  the  'Teaching.'  What;  he  said  concern- 
ing it  will  be  of  interest  to  th-  reader. 

"Everybody  knows  that  the  'Teaching,'  as  pub- 
lished in  the  Constantinople  edition  of  Br3'ennios, 
contains  sixteen  short  chapters.  The  first  six  com- 
prise enforcement  of  duties  and  prohibition  of  sins 
and  crimes;  the  last  ten,  commencing  with  the 
seventh,  consist  mainly  of  liturgical  &nd  ecclesiasti- 
cal prescriptions  and  ordinances.  Now  the  Bishop 
says  the  '  Teaching  of  the  Twelve  Apostles'  is  limi 
ted  entirely  to  those  first  six  chapters,  ajd,  inas 
much  as  it  i.<>  derived  through  them  from  the  Lord, 
each  word  therein  is  of  binding  force  But,  he 
says,  the  la'^t  ten  chapters  are  entirely  distinct,  and 
have  no  authority  whatever,  except  so  far  as  the 
writer  happens  to  be  correct  in  his  injunctions. 
Kow  far  he  was  correct  in  these  iujanc:i  ms  the 
Bish')p  says  we  cannoc  know.  Their  only  weii^ht  is 
found   in   the  fact  that  they  ^re  the  expression  of 


SABBATH    AND    SUXDAY-  65 

opinion  of  one  person  "w  lio  was  presumably'  a  good 
man.     To  quote  as  txactly  as  1  can   the   liishcp's 
language:  'In  the  year   100,  1"20,  140— we  are  not 
sure  what  year— a  man  says  to  himself,  "I  will  write 
down  just 'what  the  apostles  have  taught  and  what 
they    learned    from  the  Lord.      I  will  write  down 
what   they   said   about  special  duties  and   sins.     I 
will  write  down   just  what  they  said  about  the  two 
wavH  of  virtue  and  vice."     So  he  goes  to  work  and 
writes  it  down  just  as  well  as  he  can  remember,  and, 
doubtlos,  he  lias  in  it  the  iid  cf  God's  Spirit.     All 
he  has  wdtten  down  is  from  Christ;  it  is  just  what 
tlie  apo-itles  sai  1;  it  is  addr.s^ed  only  to  Christians, 
and   tJiis  is   what    should   bear  the  inscription    of 
"  Teaching  of  the  Twehe  Apostles."     Ail  this  occu- 
pies just  six  exceedingly  brief  chapters.     Jhit  when 
he  has  done  that,  the  wrifer  is  not  satisfied.     All  he 
has  done  is  that  he  has  been  a  sort  of  amaiuiensis  in 
writing  down  teachings  for  the  practical  guidance  of 
the  sainis.     But   the   lieathen   are  being  converted 
and  pouring  into  the  church.     In  tlie  manner  of  re 
ceiving  them  vastly  dilferent  customs  exist.     There 
is  no  manual  of  directions  on  the  suljject.     In  ore 
place  tliev  do  this;  in  another  place   they  do  that. 
The   vari-^ty   of   procedure  is   becoming  a  scandal. 
Christ  did  not  formulate  a  system.     He  gave  only  a 
faith;  and  the  apostles   did 'hardly  more.     "Now," 
says  ihe  man.  whom  we  will  call  the  transcriber,  in 
as;nu?,h  as  nothing  in  the  six  chap'.eis  was  origirial 
to  him,    "I  will  do  s  miething  more.     I  will  write 
what  shall  be  good  for  tho-e  coming  into  the  cliurch, 
and  what  shall  be  a  sort  of  guide  or  manual  to  the 
clergy   in   dealing  with   tiiem."     We  may   suppose 
•hat,  after  great  study  and  investigaion  ar,d  reflec- 
tion, or.  possi'ly,  with  but  liltle  of  such  study,  in- 
vestiL!;ation,    timl   rttiectiou,  the  man  makes  up  his 
m  ud  as  to  what  ought  to  be  the  com^e  C'f  pr«  ccd- 
ure.  or  as  to  what  is  'he  course  of  [n-occdure  in  the 
majority  of  cases,  and  then,  without  inspiration,  he 


66  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

writes  it  down.  It  is  possible,  bvcd,  that  his  opin 
ion  may  be  in  opposition  to  that  of  the  vast  majority 
of  other  believers.  Hence  the  last  ten  chapters,  as 
authority,  have  no  value  whatever.  {/Itv  sxovv 
ovdefjLiav  a^iar.)  Possibly  the  r of (7  i'^vEGir 
was  then  put  here  at  the  begiuniDg  of  the  seventh 
chapter,  aud  preceded  by  the  words-:  "Teaching  of 
the  Lord  through  the  Twelve  Apostles,"  thus  mak- 
ing it  in  the  original  as  distinct,  and  yet  the  wiiter 
hone>tly  believing  it  the  Teaching  of  the  Lord  be- 
cause it  seemed  so  wise  and  so  clear  to  him.  Possi- 
bly the  inscription  was  simply  {roiO'  f^'^veGiv) 
and,  at  last,  with  the  title,  "  Teaching  of  the  Twelve 
Apostles"  prefixed,  all  was  transported  to  the  be- 
ginning of  the  book.  But  the  sum  of  it  is.  these  ten 
chapters  have  no  authority  save  as  the  opinion  of 
the  unknown  writer.  There  may  have  been  a  hun- 
dred men  more  capable  than  he  of  expressing  an 
opinion,  only  he  wrote  down  his  opinion,  and  oth- 
ers did  not.  The  first  six  chapters  have  upon  us 
the    binding    force    of    the    word    of    God.      The 

Aidax'^  is,  properly  speaking,  the  first  six  chap- 
ters and  no  more.' 

"'How  would  Your  Holiness  prove  this  distinc- 
tion of  the  sixteen  chapters  into  two  distinct  parts 
of  unequal  authority  and  obligation?'  I  asked. 

"'First,'  he  replied,  'by  reading  the  first  six 
chapters  by  themselves,  and  then  the  last  ten  chap- 
ters by  themselves.  Tnere  is  all  the  difference  be- 
tween them  of  inspiration  on  the  one  side,  and  of 
human   compilation  and  contrivance  on  the  other.' 

Then  the  learned  Bishop,  wbo  is  profoundly  versed 
in  all  the  intricacies  and  subtleties  of  apostolic  and 
ecclesiastical  histoiy,  made  a  remark  which,  for  its 
ingeniousness  and  ingenuousness,  I  must  ejuote. 
'  We  know  that  many  of  these  rules  and  directions 
had   no  authority  save  in  ihe   mind  of  the  writer, 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  67 

from  the  fact  that,  during  the  first  and  second  cen_ 
turies  after  Christ,  the  observance  and/u^toms  of 
the  church,  in  many  respects,  were  different  from 
what  the  writer  approves  and  lays  down  in  the  last 
ten  chapters.  At  the  same  time,  we  know  that  the 
teachings  of  the  first  six  chapters  are  exactly  the 
eame  as  those  of  Christ  and  his  apostles.  ^  _  .  . 
^'It  is  also  a  fact,'  he  said,  '  that,  in  the  Epistle 
of  Barnabas,  no  quotation  is  made  from  the  _  ieach- 
ing"  except  from  the  first  Ax  chapters  Possibly 
thire  may  be  from  the  sixteenth  chapter;  but  it 
seems  rather  like  a  coiLcidence  than  quotatioiL 
Now  if  the  writer  of  that  epistle  recogmzed  alt  the 
"Teaching"  as  equal,  why  does  he  quote  only  trom 
the  first  six  chapters?'  .  „      .     a.  ^uk 

-'But'  said  I,  'is  this  fully  in  harmony  with 
Your  Hiliness's  discussion  of  the  writer  of  the 
/iiSaxV  on  certain  pages  of  last  year's  Constanti- 
nople edition.'  .  •  ^.,  •„„ 
'♦He  replied:  'It  is  at  variance  with  nothing 
which  I  said  then,  and  it  is  in  accordance  with,  and 
fortified  by,  my  constant  study  of  the  /liSaXf?  ever 
since  it  was  published,  and  it  is  all  to  be  set  forth  in 
the  book  I  am  now  writing.  There  are  other  con- 
sideration s,  too,  which  I  shall  there  bring  cut  fully. 
Altogether  it  amounts  to  this:  Six  chapters,  divine 
and  obligatory;  ten  chapters,  human,  possibly  good, 
but  resting  on  one  individual  man's  individual  judg- 
ment of  what  was  best.'  "* 

We  have  treated  of  this  document  thus  at  length, 
for  the  sake  of  many  readers  who  may  not  have 
had  the  opportunity  to  become  familiar  with  it,  and 
also  to  show  that  the  second  portion,  in  which  oc- 
curs the  reference  that  is  claimed  in  support  of  Sun- 
day, is  of  a  later  date,  and  of  less  worth  than  the 
*  The  Independent,  Oct.  15, 1884. 


68  SABBATH    AND   SUNDAY. 

earlier.  This  reference  is  in  the  fourteentli  chapter, 
and  is  translated  by  Hitchcock  and  Brown,  as  fol- 
U)W3: 

'•  But  on  the  Lord's  day  do  ye  assemble  and  break 
bread  and  give  thanks,  after  confessing  your  trans- 
gressions, in  order  that  your  sacrifice  may  be  pure." 

This  passage,  like  the  one  from  Ignatius,  lacks 
the  very  important  word  day.  The  Greek  is  as 
follows: 

^'Kata  nvpiaKTiv  6£  Kvpiov  (Tvvax^sy- 
rso'  K\a(jars  aprov  jiai  evxo[pi(rT?}(Tar8 
7rpo()£^o;xoX.oyfj()aju€vot  ra  napaitrooixa- 
ravjAwv^   OTtooa  ua^apa  rj  Bvffia   vjac^v 

!/•" 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  structure  of  the  opening 
clause  is  more  than  "pleonastic;"  it  is  awkward. 
If  the  word  day  be  supplied,  or  if  the  adjective  be 
used  for  the  substantive,  we  should  have,  "On  the 
Lord's  (day)  of  the  Lord,"  etc.  Dr.  Potter  suggests 
another  meaning  to  the  passage,  which  is  certainly 
worthy  of  careful  consideration,  for  while  it  does 
not  relieve  the  imperfect  construction  of  the  clause, 
it  accords  perfectly  with  the  meaning  of  the  chap- 
ter.    He  says: 

"  The  wo'  d  day  in  the  translation  is  entirely  gra- 
tuitous. The  word  iff^iepav,  is  not  in  the  text,  and 
other  words  are  as  much  eutitltd  to  the  place  as 
this.  The  chapter  is  devoted  to  the  Lord's  Supper 
and  the  qualiticatious  necessary  to  enable  one  to  be- 
come a  partaker  thereof.    Should  the  word  r parte- 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  69 

ing  your  transgressiODS,'  etc. 

Whatever  meaning  may  be  given  to  the  impo'*"' 
clause,  nothing  is  gainea  tor  the  cause  o  feunday, 
observance.  The  portion  of  the  ••Teaching  in 
which  it  occurs,  is  certainly  later  than  the  time  of 
lustin  Martyr,  and  likely  to  be  contemporaneous 
;"h  the  Apostolic  Constitutions.  The  words  of 
Justin  (P.  71,)  .how  how  and  why  Sunday  w.  ob- 
served  as  an  eucharist  day,  in  the  atterhal  of  he 
second  century.  The  history  of  "  S^nl^J' ;  ''^  *f. 
resurrection  festival,  begins  there.  Lord  s  day 
comes  in  later. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 


Justin  yVlARXYR,   the  First    Di- 
rect Reference  to  Sun- 
day, AND  THE  Rise  of 


Yo-p 


ABBATHISM. 


The  middle  of  the  second  century  marks  the  be- 
ginning of  a  new  era  in  the  Sabbath  question.  The 
first  direct  and  indisputable  reference  to  any  form 
of  Sunday  observance  by  Christians,  is  made  at  this 
time,  and  simultaneously  and  by  the  same  man,  the 
No-Sabbath  theory  is  propounded.  Up  to  this  time, 
Monotheism  and  the  Scriptures  had  held  the  better 
part  of  the  church  to  the  Sabbath,  as  taught  in  the 
Decalogue.  Polytheism  and  heathen  philosophy 
ignored  this  idea,  and  openly  proclaimed  a  type  of 
no-Iawism  and  absolute  no-Sabbathism.  Ii  was  a 
part  of  the  fruitage  wliich  came  from  the  corrup- 
tion of  the  Apostolic  Church  and  the  gospel  by  ad- 
mixture with  heathen  fancies  and  speculations.  Un- 
der the  sway  of  these  loose  ideas,  Sunday,  already  a 
festival  among  the  heathen,  found  gradual  welcome 
at  the  hands  of  the  semi- Christianized  leaders  in  the 
church,  and  final  recognition  by  a  still  less  Christian- 
ized form  of  civil  government  during  the  third  and 


SABBATH     A  XI)    SIM)  AY.  71 

fourth  centuries.  Justin  3Iartyr  stands  as  a  promi- 
nent representative  of  this  no-Sabbathism,  and  also 
as  an  apologist  for  Christianity,  who  sought  to  soft- 
en the  fury  of  the  heathen  Persecutors,  by  claiming 
a  similarity  between  Christianity  and  heathenism. 
The  entire  passage  concerning  Sunday  is  as  follows; 
only  a  part  of  it  is  usually  quoted  by  writers  who 
support  the  theory  that  Sunday  is  the  Sabbath: 

*'  On  the  day  which  is  called  Sunday,  there  is  an 
assembly  in  one  place  of  all  who  dwell  either  in 
towns  or  in  the  country ;  and  the  ^lemoirs  of  the  Apos- 
tles, or  the  writings  of  the  Prophets  are  read,  as  long 
as  the  time  permits.  Then,  when  the  reader  haih 
cea.sed,  the  President  delivers  a  discourse  in  which 
he  reminds  and  exhorts  them  to  the  imitation  of  all 
these  good  things.  We  tlien  all  stand  up  together 
and  put  forth  prayers.  Then,  as  we  have  already 
said,  when  we  cease  from  prayer,  bread  is  brought, 
and  wine,  and  water;  and  the  President  in  like  man- 
ner offers  up  prayers  and  praises  with  his  utmost 
power;  and  the  people  expre«s  their  assent  by  say- 
ing, Amen.  The  consecrated  elements  are  then  dis- 
tributed and  received  by  every  one.  and  a  portion  is 
sent  by  the  deacons  to  those  wiio  are  absent. 

"Each  of  I  hose  also  who  have  abundance,  and 
are  willing,  according  to  his  choice,  gives  what  he 
thinks  fit;  and  what  is  collected  is  deposited  with 
the  President,  who  succors  the  fatherless  and  the 
widows,  and  those  who  are  in  necessity  from  disease 
or  any  other  cause;  tho.se  also  who  are  in  bonds,  and 
the  strangers  who  are  sojourning  among  us;  and  in 
a  word  takes  care  of  all  who  are  in  need. 

"  We  all  of  us  assemble  together  on  Sunday,  be- 
cause it  is  the  first  day  in  which  God  changed  dark- 
ness and  matter  and  made  tlie  world.  On  the  same 
day  also  Jesus  Christ  our  Saviour  rose  from  the. 
dead.     For  he  was  crucitied  the  day  before  that   of 


72  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

Sal  urn:  and  on  the  day  after  that  of  Saturn,  wliich 
is  the  day  of  the  Sun,  he  appeared  to  his  apostles  and 
discipie-i  and  taught  them  what  we  now  submit  lo 
your  consideration."* 

The  foregoing  extract  will  be  better  understood 
if  the  reader  remembers  that  the  author  was  a  Gre- 
cian philosopher  who  accepted — we  dare  not  say 
was  converted  to — Christianity,  after  reaching  the 
age  of  manhood,  and  who  retained  man}  of  his 
heathen  notions  and  sympathies  through  life.  The 
days  referred  to,  Saturn's  and  the  Sun's,  are  desig- 
nated only  by  their  heathen  names,  and  the  reasons 
which  are  given  for  meeting  on  Sunday  are  at  once 
fanciful  and  unscriptural.  The  passage  shows  Justin 
in  his  true  place  as  an  Apologist,  who  sympathized 
with  both  parties,  and  sought  to  soften  the  leelings 
of  the  emperor  by  indicating  those  points  in  which 
Christianity  and  heathenism  agreed.  The  following 
extracts  from  the  same  author  show  that  he  could 
not  entertain  any  idea  of  the  Sun's  day  as  being  in 
any  sense  the,  Sahhath,  or  even  a  Sabbath.  In  his 
Dialogue  With  Tnjplio  the  Jew,  the  differences  be- 
tween .Jastin's  theories  of  Christianity,  and  Judaism, 
are  strongly  set  forth,  and  the  Sabbath  is  frequently 
referred  to.  In  the  23d  section  of  the  Biah/gue,  he 
says: 

"  If  we  will  not  acknowledge  ihis,  we  must  neces- 
sarily fall  into  notions  that  can  not  be  admitted, 
either  that  there  was  not  the  same  God  in  the  days 

*  Apologry  for  the  ChristiHiis  to   Antonius  Pius,  sectiong 
87-89,  Chevalier's  translation,  pp.  224-5;  also  Clark's  Ante 
Nicene  Library,  Vol.  2,  pp.  65,  66. 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  73 

* 

of  Enoc'iJ,  and  all  the  rest,  who  did  not  praclice  cir- 
cumcision accortliug  to  the  tiesh,  and  keep  the  Sab 
baths,  and  those  other  rites  and  ceremonies  which 
are  enjoined  by  the  law  of  Moses,  or  that  he  did  not 
care  that  all  mankind  should  always  peiform  the 
same  righteous  acts,  which  suppositions  are  absurd 
and  ridiculous.  We  must  therefore  confess  that  it  was 
for  the  sake  of  sinful  men,  that  he  who  is  always 
the  same,  ccmimanded  these  same  things  to  be  ob- 
served, and  can  pronounce  him  friendly  to  man,  pos- 
essed  of  foreknowledge,  needing  nothing,  just  and 
good.  If  this  be  not  so,  tell  me  sir,  what  are  your 
opinions  on  the  subject?  When  none  of  them  made 
any  reply,  I  continued,  I  will  then  repeat  to  j^ou, 
Trypho.  and  to  those  who  wish  to  become  proselytes, 
that  divine  doctrine  which  I  myself  heard  from  the 
man  of  whom  I  spoke.  Do  you  not  see  that  the 
elements  stay  not  from  working,  nor  do  thev  keep 
any  Sabbaths.  Remain  as  you  were  born.  For  if 
circtmicision  was  not  nec^dful  before  Abraham,  nor 
Sabbath  feasts,  nor  sacrifices  before  Moses,  neither 
are  they  so  now,  when  according  to  the  will  of  God, 
Jesus  Christ  His  Son  has  been  born  without  sin,  of 
the  Virgin  Mary,  who  was  of  the  race  of  Abraham,"* 

In  another  place,  he  says: 

"  The  new  law  commands  you  to  keep  a  perpetu- 
al Sabbath,  and  you  rest  on  one  day  and  think  that 
you  are  religious,  not  considering  why  that  com 
mandment  was  given  you.  Again,  if  j^ou  eat  im 
leavened  bread,  you  say  that  you  have  fulfilled  the 
law  of  God,  but  it  is  not  by  such  means  that  the 
Lord  our  God  is  pleased.  If  any  one  of  you  is  guilty 
of  perjury  or  theft,  let  him  sin  no  more.  If  any  be 
an  adulterer  let  him  repent,  and  then  he  will  have  kept 
a  true  and  pleasant  Sabbath  of  God  'f 

*  Library  of  the  Fathers,  Vol.  40,  p.  98.  Oxford  edition;  also 
Ante-Nicene  Library.  Vol.  2.  pp,  115,  116- 

t  Libi-ary  of  the  Fathers,  Vol.  40,  p-  85;  also  Ante-Nicene, 
Vol.  2.  p.  101. 


74  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

Be  it  here  remembered  that  the  Sabbath  is  often 
referred  to  in  Justin's  Dialogue,  and  that  in  the  pas- 
sage just  quoted  he  is  answering  a  charge  which 
Trypho  brings  against  Christians,  who,  he  declares, 
'*  differ  in  nothing  from  the  heathen  in  their  manner 
of  living,  because  they  neither  observe  festivals,  nor 
Sabbaths,  nor  the  rite  of  circumcision."* 
Justin's  reply  seeks  to  defend  himself  against  the 
charge  by  showing  that  such  things  were  not  re- 
quired of  men  under  the  gospel.  In  this  way,  Jus- 
tin shows  that  he  did  not  predicate  any  observance 
of  Sunday  upon  the  fourth  commandment,  or  upon 
any  transfer  of  the  "  Jewish  "  to  the  "  Christian  " 
Sabbath.  He  does  not  link  Sunday  with  the  former 
dispensation  by  any  such  claims.  In  the  forty-first 
section  of  the  Dialogue  he  gives  another  fanciful 
reason  in  addition  to  those  given  in  the  Apology  for 
giving  Sunday  a  religious  pre-eminence.  This  rea- 
son he  expresses  in  the  following  words: 

"The  command  of  circumcision,  again,  bidding 
[them]  always  to  circumcise  the  children  on  the 
eighth  day,  was  a  type  of  the  true  circumcision,  by 
which  we  are  circumcised  from  deceit  and  iniquity 
through  Him  who  rose  from  the  dead  on  the  first 
day  after  the  Sabbath,  [namely  through]  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  For  the  first  day  after  the  Sabbath, 
remaining  the  first  of  all  the  days,  is  called,  however, 
the  eighth,  according  to  the  number  of  all  the  days 
of  the  cycle,  and  [yet]  remains  the  first,  "f 

^     Thus  it  appears  that  Justin  is  at  once  the  first  of 
the  "Fathers"  who  makes  any  authentic  mention 

*  Dialogue,  chap.  10.    +  Ante-Nicene  Lib.  Vol.  2,  p.  139. 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  75 

of  the  pre-eminence  of  Sunday  among  Christians,) 
and  the  first  exponent  of  absolute  no-Sabbathism.' 
It  is  also  pertinent  to  note,  as  Dr.  Hessey  has  done,* 
that  Justin  always  uses  "  Oaftl^ariQeiv  "  "with 
exclusive  reference  to  the  Jewish  law,"  and  that  "  he 
carefully  distinguishes  Saturday,  the  day  after  which 
our  Lord  was  crucified  from  Sunday  upon  which 
he  rose  from  the  dead."  In  the  face  of  these  facts, 
it  is  manifestly  unjust  to  claim  Justin  as  an  advo- 
cate of  the  sacredness  of  Sunday,  either  as  the 
''  Puritan,"  the  "  Christian,"  or  the  •'Anglo-Ameri- 
can" Sabbath.  It  were  better  to  let  him  stand  in 
his  true  place  as  the  exponent  of  semi-pagan  no- 
Sabbathism  , 

What  we  do  learn  from  Justin,  inferences  and  i. 
suppositions  aside,  is  this:  At  the  middle  of 
the  second  century,  certain  Christians  hold  some 
form  of  religious  service  on  Sunday.  All  that 
Justin  says  is  compatible  with  the  idea  that  the 
day  was  not  regarded  as  a  Sabbath,  and  his  silence 
concerning  any  Sabbatic  observance,  is  strong  neg- 
ative proof  of  the  absence  of  any  such  idea. 
His  no-Sabbatkism  is  added  proof  of  this.  It  is 
further  apparent  that  since  he  undertook  to  de- 
scribe the  things  which  were  done  on  Sunday,  and 
to  give  the  reasons  therefor,  that  had  anything  like 
the  modern  theory  of  a  Sunday  Sabbath  then  ob- 
tained, he  must  have  mentioned  the  fact.  Domville 
sums  up  the  case  as  follows: 

*  Sunday,  p.  43,  sec.  11. 


76  SABBATH    AN^D     SUNDAY. 

"This  inference  appears  irresistible  when  we 
further  consider  that  Justin,  in  this  part  of  his 
Apology  is  professedly  intending  to  describe  the 
mode  in  which  Cliristians  observed  the  Sun- 
day. .  .  .  He  evidently  intends  to  give  all  infor- 
mation requisite  to  an  accurate  knowledge  of  the 
subject  he  treats  upon.  He  is  even  so  particular  as 
to  tell  the  Emperor  why  the  Sunday  was  observed; 
and  he  does,  in  fact,  specify  every  active  duty  be- 
longing to  the  day,  the  Scripture  reading,  the  ex- 
hortation, the  public  prayer,  the  Sacrament,  and  the 
alms-giving:  why  then  should  he  not  also  inform  the 
Emperor  of  the  one  inactive  duty  of  the  day,  the 
duty  of  abstaining  from  doing  in  it  any  manner  of 
work?  ...  If  such  was  the  custom  of  Christians  in 
Justin's  time,  his  description  ot  their  Suudiy  duties 
was  essentially  defective.  .  .  .  But  even  were  it  prob- 
able he  should  intend  to  omit  all  mention  of  it  in  his 
Apology  to  the  Emperor,  it  would  be  impossible  to  im- 
agine any  sutficient  cause  for  his  remaining  sileiit  on 
the  subject  in  his Dutlogne  with  Trypho  the  Jew;  and 
this  whether  the  Dialogue  was  real  or  imaginary, for  if 
the  latter,  Justin  would  still,  as  Dr.  Lardner  has 
observed,  'choose  to  write  in  character.'  .  .  .  The 
testimony  of  Justin,  therefore,  proves  most  clearly 
two  facts  of  great  importance  in  the  Sabbath  con- 
troversy; the  one,  that  the  Christians  in  his  time  ob- 
served the  Sunday  as  a  prayer  day,  the  other  that 
they  did  not  observe  it  as  a  Sabbath-day."* 

/  Such  is  the  summary  of  the  case  at  the  year  150 
/  A.  D.  No-Sabbathism,  and  some  form  of  Sunday 
j  observance  were  born  at  the  same  time.  Trained 
;  in  heathen  philosophies  until  manhood,  Justin  ac- 
cepted Christianity  as  a  better  philosophy  than  he 

*  Sabbath.  Examination  of  the  Six  Texts;  p.  274,  seq., 
London,  1849. 


SABBATH     AND    SUNDAY 


had  before  found.    Such  a  man,  and  those  like  him,  1 
could  scarcely  do  other  than  build  a  system  quite  I 
unlike  apostolic  Christianity.     That  which  they  did  I 
build  was  a    paganized  rather  than   an  apostolic 
type. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Other  Writers,  and  the  De- 
velopment OF     No-jSab- 

BATHISM, 

The  advocates  of  Sunday  scan  the  pages  of  his- 
tory, subsequent  to  Justin's  time,  for  every  faint 
trace  which  refers  to  Sunday  in  any  way.  Trac- 
ing in  chronological  order  the  writers  that  are  quoted 
we  find  them  as  follows: 

DIONYSIUS. 

\/  Dionysius,  Bishop  of  Corinth,  stands  next  upon 
f  the  list  of  writers,  who  are  claimed  as  mentioning 
I  Sunday.  (We  shall  discuss  the  expression  "  Lord's 
day  "in  another  place.)  The  passage  quoted  is  said 
to  be  from  a  letter  addressed  to  Soter,  Bishop  of 
Rome.  Only  a  fragment  of  the  letter  is  extant,  be- 
ing found  in  Eusebius,*  A  Latin  volume  of  Euse- 
bius,  published  in  1570,  gives  chap.  22.  The  pas- 
sage is  usually  translated  liberally  as  follows: 

"  To  day  we  have  passed  the  Lord's  holy  day,  in 
which  we  read  your  letter,  which  we  shall  hereafter 
read  continually,  as  we  do  that  of  Clemens,  that  we 
may  be  replenished  with  precepts  and  wholesome 
instructions."     The  passage  as  "found  in  the  Latin 

*  Ecc.   Hist.,  Book  4,  chap.  23. 


SABBATH     AND    SUNDAY.  79 

edition  of  Eusebius.  noted  above,  is  as  follows: 
"SaTictam  hodie  Dominicam  diem  per egimus,  in  una 
'Destram  legimus  epistolam,  quam  semper  admonitionis 
gratia  Ugemus,  siciit  et  priorem  nobis  per  ClemenUm 
scripiam. "  Routli*  gives  ' '  transegimiis  "  instead  of 
of    "peregimus,"     and    in  the    Greek  text    gives. 

''  diJiyayo^J-er." 

Such,  a  fragment,  if  genuine,  can  not  be  made  the 
foundation  of  an  argument  or  a  theory.  It  is  dated 
A  D.  170.  Allowing  that  '' Lord's-day  "  refers  to 
Sunday,  it  only  shows  a  slight  growth  of  the  idea 
and  practice  referred  to  by  Justin  in  his  apology 
twenty  or  thirty  years  before.  It  does  not  show  a 
Sahhatic  observance;  "have  passed,"  or  "gone 
throuo-h,"  the  day  is  all  that  the  text  can  be  made  to 
express;  and  to  say  "have  kept,"  as  Mr.  Gilfillan 
does  in  a  parenthesis,  is  a  perversion. 

MELITO. 

Testimony  in  favor  of  Sunday  is  also  sought 
from  Melito,  Bishop  of  Sardis,  who  wrote  a  book 
"  on  the  Sabbath,"  some  say;  "on  the  Lord's-day,  ' 
say  others  The  basis  on  which  these  and  similar 
statement,  rest  is  this:  None  of  the  books  written 
by  him  are  extant.  Eusebiusf  pretends  to  give  a  list 
of  works  written  by  him.  Routh^  gives  the 
title  of  this  one  as  '0  He  pi  Kvpiamja  Aoyoff. 
Thus  we  have  simply  a  book  or  discourse  "  concern- 
ing the  Lord's ."     Evidently  an  imperfect  title, 

with  no  clue  concerning  the  important  word  to  be 
supplied.  There  were  many  other  themes  concern- 
-*  Reliquiae  Sacrs.  Vol.  1,  P-^f:  tEcc.  Hist.  B*,ok  4, 
chap.  25.    t  Reliquife  Sacrae,  Vol.  1,  p.  1^0. 


80  SABBATH    AND  SUNDAY. 

ing  which  one  might  write  besides  the  Lord's  day. 
It  is  not  surprising  that  Eusebius  should  supply  the 
ellipsis  with  the  word  "  day."  He  wrote  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  years  after  the  time  of  Melito,  and 
evidently  had  no  authority  except  a  mutilated  cata- 
logue, or  tradiiion.  He  was  a  great  admirer  of  Con- 
stantine,  and  an  earnest  supporter  of  his  "  Sunday 
legislation. "  His  comments  upon  some  of  the  Psalms 
evince  an  unwarrantable  effort  to  give  a  religious 
character  to  the  Sunday.  With  such  tendencies  and 
under  such  circumstances,  Eusebius  would  naturally 
be  tempted  to  claim  Melito  as  a  "  Sunday  author.'' 
In  the  same  chapter,  Eusebius  states  that  Melito 
wrote  a  discourse  concerning  "  Easter,"  in  the  pre 
face  to  which  he  says  that  it  was  written  at  a  time 
when  "  there  was  a  great  stir  at  Laodicea  concern- 
ing the  Sabbath,  which  in  those  days,  by  reason  of 
the  times,  was  broken  up,"  {Motaest  Laodliece  mag- 
na qucEsUo  Sabbata,  quod  in  dubus  illis  x>ro  ratio ne 
temporis,  inclderat.)  In  this  statement,  there  is, 
clearly,  a  reference  to  the  flood  of  no-Sabbathism 
which  found  its  first  prominent  advocate  in  Justin  a 
quarter  of  a  cealury  before  the  time  of  Melito.  It 
also  shows  that  the  distinctively  Christian  element 
in  the  church  withstood  this  semi-Pagan  apostasy, 
and  hence  a  ''great  stir  was  made." 

IREN^US. 

Irenieus,  Bishop  of  Lyons,  flourished  during  the 
last  quarter  of  the  second  century.  Positive  dates 
conci'rniiig  him  and  his  writings  arc  wauling.  Prob- 
ably ihe  most  of  his  writings  which  have  come  down 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 


81 


to  US  were  written  after  180  A.  D.  One  brief  pas- 
SHf-e  ascri1)ed  to  biui  has  been  quoted  and  paraphrased 
by  several  modern  writers  in  such  a  way  as  to 
indicate  inexcusable  carelessness,  to  say  the  least. 
Dr.  Justin  Edwards,  says: 

"  Hence  Irenseus,  Bishop  of  Lyons,  a  disciple  of 
Polvcarp,  who  had  been  thecomi)aninn  ot  the  apost- 
les "  V  1)  167.  says  that  the  I.ord's-day  Avas  the 
Chris  ian  Sabbath.  His  words  are,  '  (.»n  the  L<>^ci  «- 
day  every  one  of  us  (Christians  keeps  the  Sabbath, 
meditatiA-  on  the  law  and  rejoicing  in  the  works 
of  God.'"* 

Mr.  Gnrney  and  others  among  English  writers 
have  used  similar  language.  Mr.  Giltillan  is  some- 
what more  guarded  in  his  use  of  Irenceus,  though  not 
less  deceptive  as  to  his  real  leachmgs,  and  the  facts 
relative  to  the  foregoing  quotation.  The  important 
fact  to  be  considered  is  this:  The  wntings  of  Iretmus 
conUnri  no  hucJi  passage.  In  support  of  this  state- 
ment we  offer  the  following  testimony  from  the- pen 
of  Sir  William  Domville: 

"  Mr  Gurney,  in  .speaking  of  the  Christians  of  the 
second  century,  says:  '  Irenajus,  Bishop  of  Lyons, 
V  D  107  expressly  asserts  that  the  Lords  day  was 
f.eir  Sabbath.'  '  (3n  the  Lord's-day.  every  one  of 
us  Uhrisiians  keeps  the  Sabbath,  m.dita  iiig  on  the 
law,  and  rejoicing  in  the  works  of  God.'  In  a  note, 
Mr.  Gurney  adds,  as  his  authority,  'Quoted  by 
D wight,  Theoh)gv,  Vol.  4,  p.  26.' 

"  tvho  is  D wight?  And  why  should  Mr.  Gurney 
in  this  ca<e.  and,  as  I  beli.ve,  in  this  case  only,  quote 
one  of  the  Fathers  at  second  han.i?     For  ALr.    Gur- 

*  Sabbrtth  Manual,  p.  114. 
(6) 


82  SABBATH     AND    SUNDAY. 

ney,  it  is  evident  from  his  Brief  Remarks,  is  well 
versed  in  the  original  writings  of  the  Fathers;  and 
if  so,  he  ought  not  to  rely  on  any  person  but  him- 
self for  faithful  quotations  from  them. 

"  Now  I  find,  by  a  biographical  memoir  prefixed 
to  D  wight's  Thwlogy,  that  the  author,  Dr.  D wight, 
was  a  minister  of  the  gospel  in  America,  and  Presi- 
dent of  a  college  there,  and  that  he  Was  born  in 
1752,  and  died  in  1817.  He  had  the  misfortune  to 
be  afflicted  with  a  disorder  in  his  eyes  from  the  early 
age  of  twenty-three;  '  a  calamity,'  says  his  biogra- 
phei-,  '  by  which  he  was  deprived  of  the  capacity 
for  reading  and  study.  .  .  .  During  the  greater  part 
of  forty  years,  he  was  not  able  lo  read  fifteen  min 
utes  in  the  twenty-four  hours.  .  .  .  The  knowledge 
which  he  gained  from  books  after  the  period  above 
mentioned,  [by  which  the  editor  must  mean  his  age 
of  twenty- three]  was  almost  exclusively  at  second 
hand  by  the  aid  of  others,'  .  .  .  (pp.  84,85.)  Hav- 
ing been  driven  by  necessity  to  pursue  his  many 
avocations  without  the  use  of  his  eyes,  his  memory, 
naturally  strong,  acquired  a  power  of  retention  un- 
usual and  surprising.  It  was  not  the  power  of  rec 
ollecting  words,  or  dates,  or  numbers  of  any  kind;  it 
was  the  power  of  remembering  facts  and  thoughts, 
especially  his  own  thoughts,  (p.  86.)  .  .  .  His  work 
consists  of  a  series  of  sermons,  in  five  volumes,  pub 
lij'hed  after  his  death  from  the  manuscript  of  an 
amanuensis,  to  whom  he  had  dictated  them.' 

' '  The  quotation  from  Irenaeus  occurs  in  one  of 
these  sermons.  (Vol.  4,  p.  28,  ed.  1819.)  The  orig- 
inal passage  in  Iremeus  is  not  given  in  the  edition 
which  I  have  seen;  we  only  have  his  English  version 
of  it,  nor  is  the  place  where  it  is  to  be  found  in  the 
works  of  Irena>us  pointed  out."* 

We  have  thus  quoted  from  Domville,   because  of 
*Sabbath,  Examination  of  the  Six  Texts,  p.  127.  et..  seq. 


SABBATH  AND    SUNDAY.  83 

his  unquestioned  authority  as  an  author.  (Robert 
Cox,  Sabbath  Literature,  Vol.  1,  supports  Domville 
on  this  point).  We  have  also  verified  his  statements 
by  comparing  them  with  the  American  edition  of 
Dr.  Dwight's  Theology  It  may  be  well  also  to  re- 
mark here,  that  the  original  sources  of  information 
concerning  the  writings  of  Irenteus  are  very  meager, 
and  hence  the  greater  difficulty  which  one  afflicted 
as  Dr.  Dwight  was  would  labor  under  in  quoting 
from  him.  This  will  appear  in  the  following  state 
ment  from  very  high  authority: 

"There  is  nothing  now  remaining  of  Irenaeus  be- 
sides his  five  books  against  heresies,  and  fragments 
of  some  other  pieces;  and  those  five  books,  which 
were  written  by  him  in  Greek,  are  extant  only  in  an 
ancient  Latin  version,  excepting  some  fragments 
preserved  by  Eusebius,  and  other  Greek  writers  who 
have  quoted  them."* 

Careful  research  shows  that  these  writings  of 
Irenaeus  contain  no  such  passage  Oi^  \hQ  ona  referred 
to  by  Dr.  Dwight,  and  quoted  with  such  confidence 
by  Mr.  Gurney,  Dr.  Edwards,  and  others.  In  sup- 
port of  this  statement,  we  quote  again  from  Dom 
ville: 

"But,  although  not  found  in  Irenaeus,  there  are 
in  the  writings  ascribed  to  another  Father,  namely, 
in  the  interpolated  Epistle  of  Ignatius  to  the  Magne- 
sians,  and  in  one  of  its  interpolated  passages,  ex- 
pressions so  closely  resembling  those  in  Dr.  Dwight  s 
quotation,  as  to  leave  no  doubt  of  the  source  from 
which  he  quoted.  .      .  Unwilling  to  rely  merely  up 

*  Lardner,  Credibility  of  the  Gospel  History.  Vol.  2.  pp- 
292,  29.3,  London,  1347- 


84  SABBATH   AND  SUNDAY. 

on  the  identity  of  the  passage  in  Ignatius,  with  the 
quotations  made  as  from  Irenseus  by  Drs.  Dwight 
and  Paley,  I  have  carefully  searched  through  all  the 
extant  works  of  Irenaeus,  and  can,  with  certainly, 
state  that  no  such  passage,  or  any  one  at  all  resemb- 
ling it.  is  there  to  be  found.  The  edition  I  consult- 
ed was  that  by  Missuet,  (Paris,  1710);  but  to  assure 
myself  still  further,  I  have  since  looked  to  the  edi- 
tions by  Erasmus,  (Paris,  1563.)  andGrabe,  (Oxford, 
1702,)  and  in  neither  do  I  find  the  passage  in  ques- 
tion."* 

We  have  carefully  verified  the  statement  made 
above  by  Sir  William  Domville,  and  do  not  hesitate 
to  repeat  that  Irenajus  contains  no  such  passage  as 
the  one  attributed  to  him. 

Nor  is  the  passage  from  the  interpolated  Epistle  of 
Ignatius  given  in  full;  why,  we  do  not  know,  unless 
it  be  that  when  the  whole  passage  is  given  it  over- 
throws the  claim  which  is  made  concerning  a  part 
of  it  when  standing  alone.  That  our  readers  may 
see  the  whole,  we  insert  the  passage  which  is  as  fol- 
lows: 

"Let  us  therefore  no  longer  keep  the  Sabbath 
after  the  Jewish  manner,  and  r -joice  in  da3's  of  idle- 
ness; for  'he  that  does  not  w^oik.  let  him  not  Ciit.* 
For,  say  the  [boly]  oracles,  'In  the  sweat  of  thy  face 
shait  thou  eat  thy  bread.'  But  let  every  one  of  you 
keep  the  Sabbath  af  rer  a  spiritual  manner,  rejoicing 
in  meditation  on  the  law,  not  in  relaxation  of  the 
body,  admiring  the  workmanship  of  God,  and  not 
eating  things  prepared  the  day  before,  nor  using 
lukewarm  drinks,  and  walking  within  a  prescribed 
spate,  nor  fir  ding  delight  in  dancing  and  plaudits 

*  Examination  of  the  Six  Texts,  pp.  131,  132;  also  Cox,  Sab. 
Lit,  Vol.  1,  suppieiueut,  p.  329. 


SABBATH    AKD     SUNDAY.  -85 

Thus  it  is  shown  that  the  ott-quoted  passage  from 
IreniEus  must  be  placed  upon  the  list  of  "things 
wanting;"  and  its  use  by  those  who  liave  thus  m^ 
correetly  predieated  an  argument  upon  it  must  be 
called,  putting  it  mildly,  a  ««*«..  muake.  ^^>"=  « 
passage  from  the  moreauthentic  writings  of  Iren^us 
and  the  only  one  in  which  he  discusses  .he  Sabba  h 
question,  at  length,  will  show  the  reader  his  theory 
concerning  the  matter  of  Sabbath  keeping.  Giving 
this,  we  will  dismiss  him  from  the  witness  stand: 

.•Tt  is  clear  therefore,  that  he  loosed  and  vivihed 
those  who  believe  in  him  as  Abraham  did    ch,mg 

r  SXX^  y^^^^  not  prl\  ItT n 

fr,»nbeinl  healed  upon  the  Sabbaths;  [on  the  con- 

a  vl  it  e?en  circumcised  them  upon  ll^-'t  <lf  •.;';"* 

Prcommand  that  ,he  offices  ^l>o"  {1  '«  1« J,  Xw 

k^x^i^^-i^^'anSs' xr^sx 
e^i^c^"^str=£S5 

»;n^!v':o=yeVt'f^Toatstal3^^^ 

servilework^^^ 
*  Those  ^vishing  to  examine  this  pas|age^w^^^  ^iV^lnil 


86  SABHATFI     A  XI)    SUXDAV. 

which  is  procured  by  tradiog  and  by  other  worldly 
business;  but  it  exhorted  them  to  attend  to  the  ex 
ercises  of  the  soul,  wl)i(  h  consist  in  reflection,  and 
to  addresses  of  a  beneficial  kind  for  their  neighbor's 
benefit.  And  therefore  the  Lord  reproved  those  who 
unjustly  blamed  him  for  having  healed  upon  the 
Sabbath  days.  For  he  did  not  make  void,  but  ful- 
filled the  law,  by  performing  the  offices  of  the  high- 
priest,  propitiating  God  for  men,  and  cleansing  tlie 
lepers,  healing  the  sick,  and  himself  suffering  deaiti. 
that  exiled  man  might  go  forth  from  condemnation, 
and  m^ht  return  without  fear  to  his  own  inheritance. 
And  n^n,  the  law  did  not  forbid  those  who  were 
hungry  on  the  Sabbath-days  to  take  food  lying  ready 
at  hand;  it  did,  however,  forbid  them  to  reap  and  to 
gather  into  the  barn."* 

In  another  place  Irena3us  declares  the  binding  nat- 
ure of  the  Decalogue,  in  these  words: 

"They  (the  Jews)  had  therefore  a  law.  a  course  of 
discipline,  and  a  prophecy  of  future  things.  For 
God  at  the  first,  indeed  warning  them  by  means  of 
natural  precepts,  which  from  the  beginning  he  had 
implanted  in  mankind,  that  is,  by  means  of  the  Dec- 
alogue (which  if  any  one  does  not  observe,  he  has 
no  salvation)  did  then  demand  nothing  more  of 
them,  f 

*  Ajrainst  Heresies,  Library  of  the  Fathers,  B.  4,  chap.  8; 
also  Aiite-Nicene  Library,  Vol.  5,  pp.  397.  398. 

+  .\gainst  "Heresies.  B.  18,  chap.  15. 


CHAPTER   X. 

TeRTULLIANAND  his  j^OLLOWERS. 

The  following,  from  the  pea  of  Neander,  will  fair 
ly  introduce  the  next  writer  to  be  examined: 

-Quintus  Septimus  Tertullianus  was  born  in  the 
later  years  of  the  second  century,  probably  at  Car- 
thage  and  was  the  son  of  a  centurion  in  the  service 
of  the  Proconsul  at  Carthage.  .  He  was  at  first  an 
advocate  or  rhetorician,  and  arrived  at  manhood  be- 
fore he  was  converted  to  Christianity;  and  he  then 
obtained,  if  the  account  given  by  Jerome  is  correct, 
?he  office  of  a  Presbyter.  ...  He  was  a  man  of ,  ar- 
tot  mfnd,  warm  'disposition    and  feeply  senou^^^ 
character,  accustomed  to  give  .^^^^^^^  ,\!P  J^^^^^^^ 
his  soul  and  strength  to  the   object   of  hu  l«ve   ana 
haughtily  to  reject  all  which  was  uncongenial  to 
that  Ob  ect      He  had  a  fund  of  great  and  multifari- 
ous knowledge,  but.it  was  confusedly  hea^d  up  in 
his  mind  without  scientific  arrangement.     His  deptn 
of  thought  was  not  united  with  log  cal  clearness  and 
Sdgment;   a  warm  ungoverned  ni^ngination    that 
dwelt  in  sensuous  images,  was  his  ruling  power. 

Tertullian  wrote  extensively  concerning  almost  all 
points  of  Christian  doctrine.  The  following  ex 
tracts  will  show  what  his  opi':ions  were  relative  to 
the  Sunday.  The  quotat  ons  here  made  are  care- 
fully translated  from  the  Latin  ..-diiion  of  Gersdorf . 

*  church  History,  First  Three  Centuries,  p.  425. 


88  SABBATH    AND  SUNDAY. 

Leipsic,  1839,  and  compared  with  the  English  trans- 
lation found  in  Library  of  the  Fathers,  Oxford, 
1842. 

"It  follows  therefore,  that  ina-niucn  as  the  aboli 
tion  of  carnal  circuaicisiou  aud  of  the  old  law  hjis 
been  provea,  so  also  the  observation  of  the  temporal 
Sabh.ith  has  been  demonstrated.  For  the  Jews  say 
that  God  from  the  beginning,  s:anctified  the  seventh 
day  by  restiog  from  ;ill  his  works;  and  that  Moses 
[Laid  to  the  people,  Remember  the  Sabbalh-day  to  keep 
it  holy,  in  it  thou  shalt  do  no  sirvile  work,  but  only 
that  work  which  concerns  the  soul,  by  which  we 
know  more,  namely:  that  we  should  alvvays  sabba- 
tize  fiotn  all  servile  work,  not  only  on  the  seventh 
dny  alone,  but  through  all  time.  And  we  must  now 
require  which  Sabbath  God  wishes  us  to  keep,  for 
!he  Scriptures  speak  of  an  tternal,  hndof  a  temporal 
SabV)ath,  For  Isaiah  thep^opliet  says:  1:  14,  'Your 
Sal)barii8  my  soul  hateth;'  and  in  another  place, 
'  Ye  have  profaned  my  Sabbaths:'  from  which  we 
learu  titat  the  temporal  Sabbath  is  to  be  considered 
human,  the  elernal  Sibbaih  divine.  For  th  s  is  fore- 
told through  Isaiah  66:  28.  He  says:  'From  one 
moon  to  another,  and  iiom  one  Sabbath  to  another 
shall  all  flesh  come  to  worship  before  me  saith  the 
Lord;'  which  we  understand  to  have  been  fulfilled 
in  the  time  of  Christ,  when  all  flesh — that  is  all  men 
— came  to  Jerusalem  to  adore  God  the  Father  through 
his  Son  Jesus  Christ,  as  was  foretold  by  the  prophet 
— Isaiah  4:  9—'  Behold  proselytes  shaircome  to  thee 
through  me.'  Hence  as  there  was  a  spiiitual,  before 
the  carnal  circuincision,  there  was  also  an  eternal 
Sabbath  pre-(xisting,  and  predicated bef<n-e  the  tem- 
poral Sabbath.  Sothey  may  say,  as  we  have  before 
said,  that  Adam  sibbatizeH;  or  that  Abel,  when  he 
offered  the  Jioly  sacriflce,  pleased  God  by  the  observ- 
ance of  the  Sabbath;  or  that  Enoch  wh(ni  he  was 
translated,  was  an  observer  of  the  Sabl)atli:  or  that 


SABBATH    AND     SU^s^DAY.  89 

Noah  observed  the  Sabbath  in  biiildiner  the  Ark  on 
account  of  the  great de;uge;  or  that  Abraham  offered 
his  son  Istfidc  in  the  observance  of  tlie  Sabbath;  or 
that  Melcliizedek  received  the  hiw  of  the  Sabbath 
in  his  priesthood.  But  the  Jews  say  that  the  Sab- 
bath must  be  observed  because  it  was  commanded 
by  i^Ioses. 

"  It  is  the-efore  clear  that  the  precept,  was  not 
eternal  nor  spiritu  .1,  but  tempoial,  and  might  at 
some  time  cease.  Hence  I  add  that  the  solemnities 
of  the  Sabbath,  that  is  the  seventh  daj',  are  not  to 
be  cel^br  ;ted  by  id.enf  ss,  as  Joshua  showed  in  the 
time  when  he  destroyed  the  ciiy  of  Jericho.  A  corn- 
man,  1  was  given  him  from  God,  that  he  should  di- 
rect the  people  to  carry  the  ark  of  the  testimony 
around  the  cit;:  seven  days,  and  when  the  seven  days 
were  ended  the  walls  would  fall  of  their  own  acc(^rd, 
and  so  it  happened  wJien  the  seven  days  were  ended 
the  walls  fell.  Now  it  is  vtry  evident  that  the  Sab- 
bath occurred  on  one  of  these  days.  For  seven  days 
wherever  you  begin  to  reckon  must  include  the  Sab- 
bath; upon  whicii  day  not  only  the  priests  worked, 
but  the  city  was  taken  at  the  ed^e  of  the  sw(n-d  by 
the  whale  people  of  Israel.  Also  in  the  time  of  Mac- 
cabes  the  people  fought  bravely  on  the  Sabbath;  or 
in  their  attack  upoQ  AIlo:^hyles;  and  they  thus  re- 
stored the  law  to  its  pristine  condition.  Nor  do  I 
believe  that  they  have  defended  any  law  except  that 
whi  -h  they  remembered  to  have  been  given  con  'crn- 
ing  the  Sabbath.  Whence  it  is  clear  "that  precepts 
of  this  nature  were  applicable  to  the  necessities  of 
the  time,  and  that  Gnd  did  no.  give  the  law  to  be 
perpetually  observed."* 

The  reader  can  judge  for  himself  concerning  the 
soundness  of  the  foregoing  effort  at  argument,    and 

*  "  Ag:ainst  the  Jews,"  chap.  4,  Lib.  Fathers,  Vol.  10:  also 
Ante-Nicene  Library,  Vol.  18,  pp.  211,  212. 


90  SABBATH    ANT)     SUNDAY. 

its  agreement  with  the  '\V'ord  of  God.  It  shows 
plainly  that  Tertullian  was  a  warm  advocate  of  the 
no-Sabbath  theory.  His  views  reveal  a  fuller  de- 
velopment of  that  no-lawism  which  "  cropped  out" 
fift.  years  before,  in  the  writings  of  JvStin.  Ter 
tullian's  ardent  r  ature  accepted  and  proclaimed  the 
full  fruitage  of  this  theory,  as  is  shown  by  the  fol- 
lowing from  another  work: 

•  The  Holy  Spirit  reproacheth  the  Jews  for  their 
feast  days.  Your  Sabbaths,  says  he,  and  your  new- 
moons,  and  3'^our  ordinances  my  soul  hateth.  And 
do  we,  to  whom  these  Sabbaths  belong  not;  nor  the 
new  moons;  nor  the  feast  days  once  beloved  of  God, 
celebrate  Ihe  feasts  of  Saturn  and  of  January,  and 
of  ti:e  winter  solstice,  and  the  feast  of  Matron's: 
For  us  shall  offerings  flow  in,  presents  jingle,  sports 
and  feasts  roar?  Oh  iruer  fealty  of  the  heathen  to 
their  own  religion  which  takt  th  to  itself  no  rite  of 
the  Christians!  No  Lord's  day;  no  Pentecost;  even 
had  they  have  known  them,  would  they  have  shared 
with  us.  For  they  would  be  afraid  lest  they  should 
be  tho  .  ht  Christians.  We  are  not  afraid  lest  we 
be  openly  declared  to  be  heathen!  If  thou  must 
needs  have  some  ind\ilgence  for  the  flesh  too,  thou 
hast  it:  and  thou  hast  not  only  as  many  days  as  they, 
but  even  more.  For  the  heathen  festival  is  on  but 
one  day  in  every  year,  thine  upon  every  eighth  day. 
Gather  out  the  several  solemn  feasts  of  the  heathen 
an  .  set  ihem  out  in  order;  they  will  not  be  able  to 
make  up  a  Pentecost."* 

Here  we  have  the  native  character  of  the  Sunday 
truly  set  forth.  ''If  thou  must  needs  1mm  some  in- 
dulgeti'-f  to  the  flesh,  thou  hast  it  every  eighth  day." 

*  De  Idolitria,  chap.  14,  Vol.  10,  Lib.  Fathers:  also  Ante- 
Nicene  Lib.,  Vol.  11,  pp.  162,  163. 


SABBATH     AND    SL'NDAY.  91 

Such  was  the  legitimate,  the  unavoidable  fruitage  of 
this  semi-pagan  festivalism,  a  fruitage  which  poi- 
soned the  church  as  fast  as  it  ripened. 

Certain  other  passages  from  Tertullian  are  much 
sought  after  by  writers  in  favor  of  Sunday,  among 
them  is  the  following,  only  a  'part  of  which  is  usu- 
ally given: 

"  As  touching  kneeling,  also  prayer  is  subject  to 
a  variation  in  its  observance,  though  there  aie  cer- 
tain ones,  a  scanty  few,  who  keep  from  their  knees 
on  the   Sabbath,  which  disagreement  bemg  exceed- 
inelv  criminated  in  the  churches,  the  Lord  will  give 
grace  Ihat  ihey  may  either  yield,  or  hold  their  own 
Opinions  without  offense  to  others.     (Here  Tertul- 
lian quotes   his   authority  as  follows:  '  On  all    Sab- 
baths, Lord's-day^   and  likewise  during  the  days 
from  Easter  to  All -saints,  not  to  kneel  in  prayer. 
Joann  Monach  Canonarium  apud  Morinus  de  i  oe- 
nit ')    But  we,  as  we  have  received,  ought,  on  the 
day  of  the  Lord's  resurrection  alone,  to  keep  frona 
not  only  that,  but  every  posture  of  painfulness,  and 
to  forbear  all  offices,  deferring  even  our  business, 
that  we  give   noplace  to  the  denl.     Equally  in   the 
season  of  Pentecost  also,  which  is  expended  in  the 
same  solemnities  of  rejoicing.     But  on   every  day, 
who  would  hesitate  to  prostrate  himself  before  (^od 
at  least  in  that  first  prayer  with  which  we  enter  up- 
on the  dawn'    But  on  the  Fasts  and  Stations    no 
prayer  must  be  observed  without  kneeling,  and  the 
other  usual  modes  of  humiliation.     For  we  are  not 
only  praying,   but  deprecating,  and  making  satis- 
faction to  God  our  Lord."* 

In  order  to  understand  the  foregoing,  the  reader 
will  need  to  remember  that  ''kneeling "  was  deemed 

*  -  Concerning  Prayer,"  chap.  23,  Vol.  10,  Lib.  Fathers;  also 
Ante-Nicene  Lib.,  Vol.  11,  p.  199. 


92  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

an  expression  of  sorrow  not  suited  to  the  jo7/ful  festi- 
iHili,  but  rather  befitting  to  the  sorroitful  fants.  The 
suggestion  relative  to  "  derferring  even  our  busi- 
ness," is  made  to  impress  the  idea  that  nothing 
should  be  allowed  to  interrupt  the  joys  of  the  day. 
The  expression  is  far  from  denoting  a  sabbatic  rest, 
especially  since  the  whole  "season  of  Pentecost" 
was  to  be  spent  in  this  manner,  with  the  same  im 
munity  from  kneeling  and  from  care.  In  another 
place  Tertullian  says: 

"  On  the  Lord's-day  we  account  it  unlawful  to  fast, 
or  to  worship  upon  the  knees.  We  enjoy  the  same 
freedom  from  roaster  day  even  unto  Pentecost."* 

Bishop  Kaye  has  summed  up  the  testimony  of 
Tertullian  concerning  the  question  before  us  in  the 
following  statements: 

"From  incidental  notices  scattered  over  Tertul- 
lian's  workS;  we  collect  that  Sunday,  or  the  Lord's- 
day,  was  regarded  by  the  primilive  Christians  as  a 
day  of  rejoi(^ing.  and  that  to  fast  upon  it  was  unlaw- 
ful. The  word  Sabbatiiin  is  always  used  to  desig- 
nate, not  the  first,  but  the  seventh  day  of  the  week', 
wliicli  appears  in  Tertullian's  time  to  have  been  also 
kept  as  a  day  of  rejoicing.  .  .  .  The  custom  of  ob- 
serving every  Saturday  as  a  fast,  which  became  gen- 
eral throughout  the  Western  Church,  does  not  ap- 
pear t)  have  existed  in  Tertullians  time.  Thiitmen 
who.  like  our  author,  on  all  occasions  com  ended 
that  the  ritual  and  ceremonial  law  of  Moses  had 
ceased,  should  observe  the  seventh  day  of  the  week 

*De  Corona,  chap.  3,  Vol.  10,  Library  Fathers ;  also  Ante- 
Nicene,  Vol.  11,  p.  336. 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  93 

as  a  festival,  is,  perhaps,  to  be  ascribed  to  a  desire 
of  conciliating  the  Jevvisli  converts."* 

The  foregoing  suggestion  of  Bishop  Kaye  con- 
cerning the  cousisten c.y  of  Terlullian's  positions  and 
statements  leads  us  to  say,  in  passing,  that  "consist- 
ency" was  not  TertuUiau's  forte.  He  often  contra- 
dicts hiniself,asserting  in  one  treatise  that  which  he 
denies  in  another.  The  first  quotation  which  we  pre- 
sented to  the  reader  is  full  of  no  Sabbatbism.  In 
other  places  he  asserts  the  perpetaity  of  the  Sabbath, 
at  least  in  a  spiritual  sense.     Note  the  following: 

"You  do  not,  however,  conj^ider  the  law  of  the 
J^abbaih:  they  are  hutnau  worlix,  not  divine,  which 
it  prohibits.  For  it  says,  '  Six  d;iys  shalt  thou  labor 
and  do  all  thy  work;  but  the  seventh  day  is  the  Sab- 
bath of  the  Lord  thy  God:  in  it  thou  shalt  not  do 
any  work.'  What  work?  Of  course  your  own. 
The  conclusion  is,  that  from  the  SabVmt Li-day  he  re 
moves  th()>e  works  which  he  had  before  enjoined 
for  the  -six  days,  that  is,  your  own  works;  in  other 
word-*,  human  works  of  dailj''  life.  Now,  the  car- 
rv  ing  around  of  the  ark  is  evidently  not  an  ordinary 
daily  duty,  nor  yet  a  Jnmian  one;  but  a  rare  and  a 
sacred  work,  and,  as  being  then  ord(refi  by  the  di- 
rei't  precept  of  God,  a  divine  one.  .  .  .  Tluis,  in  the 
pre>teiit  instance,  there  is  a  clear  distinction  respect 
ing  the  Sabbath's  prohibition  of  human  labors,  not 
divine  ones.  Accordingly,  the  mnn  who  went  and 
gahered  Slicks  (m  the  Sabbath-day,  was  punished 
with  death.  For  i  t  was  his  own  work  which  he  did ; 
and  this  tlie  law  forbade.  They,  however,  who  on 
the  Sabbath  carried  the  ark  round  Jericho,  did  it 
with  injpunity.     For  it  was  not  their  own  work,  but 

*EccI.  Hist,  of  the  Second  and  Third  Centuries.  Illustrated 
from  tlie  writings  of  Tertullian,  p.  368,  London;  1845. 


94  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

God's,  which  they  executed,  and  that,  too,  from  Mb 
express  commaDdment."* 

A  late  writer,  J.  N,  Andrews,  aptly  describes  the 
position  and  character  of  Tertullian  in  the  following 
words: 

"  This  writer  contradicts  himself  in  the  most  ex- 
traordinary manner  concerning  the  Sabbath  and  the 
law  of  God.  He  asserts  that  the  Sabbath  was  abol 
ished  by  Christ,  and  elsewhere  emphatically  declares 
that  he  did  not  abolish  it.  He  says  that  Joshua  vio- 
lated the  Sabbath,  and  then  expressly  declares  that 
he  did  not  violate  it.  He  says  that  Christ  broke  the 
Sabbath,  and  then  shows  that  he  never  did  this.  He 
represents  the  eighth  day  as  more  honorable  than 
the  seventh,  and  elsewhere  states  just  the  reverse. 
He  asserts  that  the  law  is  abolished,  and  in  other 
places  affirms  its  perpetual  obligation.  He  speaks 
of  the  Lord's  day  as  the  eighth  day,  and  is  the  sec 
ond  of  the  early  writers  who  makes  an  application 
of  this  term  to  Sunday,  Clement  of  Alexandria,  A. 
D.  194,  being  the  first.  But  though  he  thus  uses  the 
term  like  Clement  he  also  like  him  teaches  a  perpet- 
ual Lord's-day,  or,  like  Justin  Martyr,  a  perpet 
ual  Sabbath  in  the  observance  of  every  day.  And 
with  the  observance  of  Sunday  as  the  Lord's-day  he 
brings  in  '  offerings  for  the  dead '  and  the  perpetual 
use  of  the  sign  of  the  cross.  But  he  expressly  af 
firms  that  these  things  rest,  not  upon  the  authority 
of  the  Scriptures,  but  wholly  upon  that  of  tradition 
and  custom.  And  though  he  speaks  of  the  Sabbath 
as  abrogated  by  Christ,  he  expressly  contradicts  this 
by  asserting  that  Christ  *  did  not  at  all  rescind  the 
Sabbath,'  and  that  he  imparted  an  additional  sanctity 
to  that  day  which  from  the  beginning  had  been  con- 
secrated   by  the   benediction  of  the   P'ather.     This 

♦Against  Marcion,  B.  2,  chap.  21,  Lib.  Fathers,  as  above  ; 
also  Ante-Nicene  Library,  Vol.  7,  pp.  100,  101. 


SAB  HATH    AND    SLXUAV.  95 

Strange  mingling  of  light  and  darkness  plainly  in- 
dicates the  age  in  which  this  author  lived.  He  was 
not  so  far  removed  from  the  time  of  the  apostles  but 
that  maay  clear  rays  of  divine  truth  shone  upon 
him;  and  he  was  far  enough  advanced  in  the  age  of 
apostasy  to  have  its  dense  darkness  materially  affect 
him.  He  stood  on  the  line  between  expiring  day 
and  advancing  night.  Sometimes  the  law  of  God 
was  unspeakably  sacred;  at  other  times  tradition  was 
of  higher  authority  than  the  law.  Sometimes  divine 
institutions  were  alone  precious  in  his  estimation; 
at  others  he  was  better  satisfied  with  those  which 
were  sustained  only  by  custom  and  tradition."* 

(Mr.  Andrews  evidently  refers  to  book  4,  chap.  13, 
"Against  Marcion,"  in  which Tertullian  with  many 
strange  twistings  and  turnings,  discusses  the  question 
as  to  whether  Christ  broke  or  annvilled  the  Sabbath. 
As  the  passage  makes  no  reference  to  Sunday,  our 
pages  do  not  yield  it  space.  It  will  be  found  in 
Ante-Nicene  Library,  Vol.  7,  pp.  315-220.) 

The  lesson  which  is  taught  in  the  writings  of  Ter- 
tullian, and  which  is  especially  pertinent  to  our  pres- 
ent inqiry  is  this,  told  in  a  single  sentence.  Under 
the  influence  of  noSabbathism,  at  the  close  of  the 
second  century,  the  observance  of  the  Sabbath 
was  declining,  and  the  semi-pagan  Sun's  day 
had  become  a  festival  for  "indulgence  to  the 
flesh."  The  "mystery  of  iniquity"  was  rapidly 
working,  preparing  the  way  for  a  corrupt  and  cor- 
rupting union  of  church  and  state  with  the  attend- 
ant evils  which  swarmed  in  upon   the  spiritual   life 

*  Testimony  of  the  Fathers,  p.  63. 


96  SABBATH     AND     SUNDAY. 

of  Christianity  vrhen  the  "  Man  of  Sin  "began  to 
change  times  and  laws. 

CLEMENT,  OF  ALEXANDRIA, 

comes  nt'xt  in  tlie  order  cf  our  examination.  He 
died  about  the  beginning  of  the  third  ccntuiy.  The 
quotations  from  this  author  are  generally  made  from 
fragmentary  WTitings  called  Stromata,  Patchirork  of 
Miscelltineaus Discourses.  By  ingenious  p^iraphrasing 
and  by  interpolating  here  and  there  a  word,  careless 
and  prejudiced  authors  have  attempted  to  draw  direct 
evidence  from  Clement  in  favor  of  a  transfer  of  the 
Sabbath  from  the  seventh  to  the  first  day  of  the 
week.  (M.  A.  A.  Phelp's  "Perpetuity  of  the  Sab- 
bath," Boston,  1841;  and  Mr.  James'  "Four  Ser- 
mons," London,  1830,  are  prominent  examples  of 
misuse  of  Clement's  words.)  An  eminent  critic  and 
commentator  upon  the  writings  of  Clement,  confutes 
this  claim  in  the  following  words: 

"I  dtem  it  scarcely  Eeces:sary  to  observe  that 
Clement  never  applies  the  name  tSabbath  to  the  firfct 
day  of  the  week,  which  he  calls  the  Lord's-day."* 

We  select  a  passage  or  two  from  the  mystical  ref- 
erences which  Clement  makes  to  the  Sabbath  and 
Sabbath-keeping,  to  illustrate  his  theories.  Of  the 
fourth  commandment,  he  says: 

*'  And  the  fourth  word  is  that  which  intimates 
that  the  world  was  created  by  God,  and  that  /te  gave 
usth-e  seKnth  day  as  a  rest,  on  account  of  the  trouble 
that  there  is  in  life.     Fr>r  God  is  inciipable  of  weari- 


*  Some  Account  of  the  writings  and  Opinions  of  Clement 
of  Alexandria,  by  John,  Bishop  of  Lincolon,  p.  413,  London. 


SABBATH     AND     SUNDAY.  97 

ucss,  and  suffeiin^,  and  want.  But  we  wliohmr  Jlci^h 
need  rest  Theseoenthdaif,  therefore,  i'*  proclaimed  a 
rest — abstraction  from  ills — preparin.u;  for  the  primal 
day,  oiir  true  res^;  wbicli,  in  truth,  is  tlie  first  crea- 
tion of  light,  in  which  all  things  are  viewcrl  and 
possessed.  From  this  day  the  tirst  wisdom  and 
knowledge  illuminate  us."*" 

His  theory  concerning  the  observance  of  days  and 
times  is  clearly  set  forth  in  the  following: 

"  Now.  we  are  commanded  to  reverence  and  to 
honor  the  same  one,  being  persuade  1  tlint  he  is  Word, 
Saviour,  and  Leader,  and  by  him.  the  Father,  not  on 
sperifil  days  ('  selected  times ').  ^*  wme  others,  but 
dmng  thu  continiudly  in  our  mhole  l>'fe.  and  in  every 
way.  Certainly  the  elect  race,  justified  by  the  pre- 
cept, says,  *  .seven  limes  a  day  have  I  praised  thee.' 
Whence  not  in  a  specified  place,  or  selected  temple, 
or  at  eert'dn,  fef<tiraU,  and  on  appoi/Ued  days,  but 
■hiHnq  his  wliole  life,  the  Gnostic  in  everyplace,  even 
if  it  be  alone  by  himself,  and  whenever  hehasanv  of 
those  who  have  embraced  the  likefaiii,  honors  G  'd; 
that  is  a'^knowledges  his  gratitude  for  the  knowl- 
edge of  rlie  way  to  live.  Tf  the  presence  of  a  good 
m:in.  b}^  liis  reverential  and  deccrous  behavior,  con- 
tinually improves  them  who  associate  with  him, 
ho  V  much  rather,  in  all  reason,  shall  not  he,  who, 
by  knowledge,  and  manner  of  life,  and  Eucharist,  is 
ever  present  with  God.  be  continually  improvinir  in 
every  particular,  in  his  actions,  and  his  wrrds,  and 
his  disposition.  Such  is  he,  who  is  persuaded  that 
G'>d  is  everywhere  present,  and  fancies  not  that  he 
is  shu^  up  in  certain  definite  places,  so  that,  suppos- 
inc"  himself  ever  out  of  his  presence,  he  ma}'  trive 
way  to  licentiousness  by  night  or  by  day.     AVe.  then, 

*  stroniHtM.  Book  6,  chap.  16.  Library  of  the  F;ither^,  Vol. 
in;  also  Ante-Nicene.  Vol  l^.p-SSfi.  The  wholeof  chapter  If'isa 
va«ne  arifl  f mcifnl  discussion  of  the  properties  of  tlieniiml.er 
seven,  of  which  we  have  quoted  the  most  sensible  pait. 

(7) 


98  SABBATH     AND    SUNDAY. 

making  our  whole  lives  a  festival,  persuaded  that 
God  is  everywliere  present,  praise  him  as  we  toil  in 
the  fields,  praise  him  as  we  sail  on  the  sea,  in  any 
other  mode  of  life  have  our  conversation  according 
to  rule." 

Again  he  states  that  "one,  having  fulfilled  the 
command  according  to  the  gospel,  makes  that  day 
the  Lord's-day,  on  which  he  casts  off  evil  thoughts, 
and  takes  those  which  are  according  to  knowledge, 
glorifying  the  Lord  s  resurrection  as  wrought  in  him- 
self."* 

Thus  the  reader  finds  Clement  teaching  the  same 
no-Sabbathism,  acd  making  the  same  analogies  and 
contrasts  between  the  old  and  new  dispensations, 
and  between  sin  and  holiness,  which  abound  in  the 
representative  writings  of  his  time.  A  passage  in 
which,  as  Bishop  Kaye  remarks,  Clement  is  trying 
to  bring  out  "  the  properties  and  virtues  of  the  num- 
bers six,  seven,  and  eight,  the  hidden  meanings  of 
which  numbers  he  frequently  speaks  of,"  has  been 
so  f paraphrased  and  interpolated,  as  to  make  it  ap- 
pear that  a  contrast  is  being^drawn  between  the  sev- 
enth and  eighth  days.     It  is  as  follows: 

"Having  reached  this  point,  we  must  mention 
these  things  by  the  way;  since  the  discourse  has 
turned  on  the  seventh  and  the  eighth.  For  the  eighth 
may  possibly  turn  out  to  be  the  seventh,  and  the 
seventh  manifestly  the  sixth,  and  the  latter  properly 
the  Sabbath,  and  the  seventh  a  day  of  work.  For 
the  creation  of  the  world  was  concluded  in  six  days. 
For  the  motion  of  tbe  sun  from  solstice  to  solstice  is 
completed  in  six  months — in  the   course  of  which 

*  Stromata,  b,  7.  chaps.  7  and  12,  Library  of  the  Fathers  : 
also  Ante-lSicene  Lib..  Vol.  12,  pp.  431.  -132  and  461. 


SABBATH     AND    SUNDAY.  99 

time  the  leaves  fall,  and  at  another  plants  bud  and 
seeds  come  to  maiurity."* 

The  passage  goes  on  thus  fancifully,  through  sev- 
eral paragraphs,  some  of  which  could  not  appear  here 
without  the  charge  of  impropriety.  Comment  is  not 
necessary  to  show  that  Clement  belongs  to  the  ultra 
school  of  no-Sabbathists. 

ORIGEN. 

Origen  was  born  A.  D.  185,  died  A.  D.  253.  He 
was  a  pupil  of  Clement  of  Alexandria,  the  effects  of 
whose  teachings  are  clearly  seen  in  his  ideas  con- 
cerning the  question  under  consideration.  Neander 
sayUhat  "the  influence  whicli  Clement  had  exerted 
on  his  theological  development  is  undeniably  shown 
most  conspicuously.  We  find  in  him  the  predomi- 
nant ideas  of  the  latter  systematically  developed  " 
The  passage  which  is  more  frequently  quoted  from 
Origen  by  writers  in  favor  of  Sunday,  is  from  his 
Twenty-third  Homily  on  Numbers.  Concerning  the 
authenticity  of  this  Homily,  Robert  Cox  speaks  as 
follows: 

"  That  the  Sabbath  was  kept  by  the  JeiDish  mem- 
bers of  the  church  is  not  only  probable  in  itself,  but 
would  be  certain  from  a  passage  in  Origen's  Twenty- 
third  Homily  on  Numbers,  if  we  could  contidently 
assume  that  Homily  to  be  a  genuine  record  of  one 
of  his  discourses.  Not  only  have  Origen's  writings 
been  more  than  usually  corrupted,  but  his  Homilies 
having  been  taken  down  from  his  mouth  by  report- 
ers, and  there  being  no  certainty  that  he  ever  revised 
them,  our  confidence  in  the  accuracy  of  any  partic- 
ular pass:^ge  cannot  be  very  great.  Of  the  Twenty - 
*Stromata,  book  6.  chap.  IG,  Ante-Nicene  Lib.,  Vol.  VZ. 
p.  386 


100  SABBATH     AND    SUNDAY. 

third  Homily,  moreover,  only  a  Latin  translation  is 
extant."* 

The  passage  as  usually  translated  is  as  follows: 

**  Leaving  the  Jewish  observances  of  the  Sabbath, 
let  us  see  how  the  !Sabl)ath  ought  to  be  observed  by 
a  Christian.  On  the  Sabbath-day  all  worldly  labors 
ou^ht  to  be  abstained  from.  If,  therefore,  3  ou  cease 
from  all  secular  works,  and  execute  nothing  worldly, 
but  give  yourselves  up  to  spiritual  exentises,  repair 
ing  to  ciiurfh,  attending  to  sacred  reading  and  in- 
struction, thinking  of  celestial  things,  solicitous  for 
the  fut'jre.  placing  the  judgment  to  come  before 
your  eyf'S,  not  looking  to  ihings  present  and  visible 
but  to  those  which  are  future  and  invisible,  this  is  the 
observance  of  the  Cliri-stiau  Sabbath." 

The  especial  phrase  "  Christian  Sabbath"  as  it  is 
rendered  is  applied  to  Sunday.  The  remarks  of 
Dr.  Hessey,  coucerniug  it,  are  subjoined  as  the  lir.-t 
evidence  against  it.     He  says: 

'In  quoting  as  Origen's  opinion,  in  the  text,  'As 
for  the  Sabbath  it  has  passed  away  as  a  matter  of 
obligation  (as  every  thing  else  purely  Jewish  has 
passed  away.)  though  its  exemplary  and  Typical  les- 
sons are  evident  still,'  I  had  in  mind  his  Twenty- 
thiid  Homily  on  Numbers. f  1  did  not  cite  it  in  tlie 
first  and  second  editions,  becausn  [  conceived  if.  im- 
possible that  any  one  could  so  far  mistake  its  mean- 
ing as  to  imagine  that  Origen's  words  SabbaU  Uhris- 
tiani  were  to  be  taken  as  equivalent  to  what  has 
souietimes  been  termed  the  Ghr'mUaii  SabJxtih,  viz.: 
the  Lord's-day.  lUit  as  1  his  mistuke  has  oc  'urred,  I 
DOW  give  a  sort  of  Ai  alysis  of  the  Hcmiily."^: 

*  Sail.  Lit..  Vol.  1,  r.l''.48.  +  Tome  ii,  p.  358,  seq. 

X  Bamptt.n  Lectures  on  Sunday,  Note  l:2(),  p.  287.  Loudon, 
1866. 


SABBATH     A#D    SUNDAY.  101 

Mr.  Hessey  goes  on  to  show  that  Origen  in  this 
Homily  is  seeking  to  explain  nine  different  Jewish 
festivals  {fesimtutes)  as  being  symbols  of  the  Chris 
tianlife.  accordiug  to  the  style  of  allegorical  inter- 
pretation, which  was  then  prevalent.  The  Sabbath 
{FesUvitas  Sabbati)  is  the  second  on  the  list,  and  is 
made  a  type  of  holy  living  under  the  Gospel  In 
the  words  of  Dr.  Hessey: 

"  It  is  perfectly  evident  that  Origen  is  here  draw- 
ing a  transcendental  picture  of  the  life  of  a  Chris- 
tiao  which  he  sets  forth  under  'he  allegory  ot  the 
keeping  of  the  Jewish  Sabl.ath.  He  who  lives  in 
the  manner  which  is  described,  realizes  the  tiabbatis- 
mvs  mentioned  in  the  Hebrews,  and  by  thus  em- 
bracing the  exemplary  meaning  of  the  Jewish  baD- 
balh,  Christianizes  it.  or  draws  a  Christian  moral 
f  mm  it  So  .Sabbati  Chridiaiii  does  not  mean  '  Chris- 
tian Sabbath,'  or  Lord's  dny,  a  phrase  not  in  use  un- 
til the  twelfth  century,  but  the  Jewish  Sabbati^ wiin 
a  Christian  moral  or  meaning  deduced  from  it.  ^o 
one  who  has  read  the  whole  of  the  Homily  can  at^ 
tach  any  other  meaninL'  to  tiie  passage.  1  may  a(ia 
that  if  Origen  is  not  svmbolizino:  the  Sabbath,  but 
advocating  it-i  continuance  in  the  Lords-day,  he 
must  be  supposed  to  be  jidvocating  the  lireral  con- 
tinuance of  the  other  T'^^i'/iVvto/es  also."  .  .  •  "l?^^^ 
this  there  is  not  the  remotest  allusion  to  the  Sabbath 
bting  either  indendcal  with,  or  cominued  in  he 
Lord's-day.  The  passage  is  intended  to  exhibit  the 
form  in  which  the  '  Sabbatisnius '  which  remainetli 
for  the  people  of  God  may  be  realized  here  and 
Origen  goes  on  to  intimate,  will  be  more  pertect.y 
^e^dized"hereaf  ter. " 

We  were  at  first  inclined  to  dis«ent  from  the  fore- 
going exegesis  by  Dr.    Hessey,  but  after  carefullj 


102  SABBATH     AND    SUNDAY. 

examining  the  whole  chapter  as  found  in  the  Origi- 
nal,* we  are  certain  that  such  is  the  meaning,  that 
Ori^en  is  contrasting  a  life-rest  in  well  doing,  with 
the  weekly  Sabbath  rest  of  the  former  dispensation. 
In  full  keeping  with  this  view  are  his  words  in  an- 
other place,f  where  he  is  trying  to  evade  the  charge 
that  Christians  were  not  consistent,  since,  by  observ- 
ing festivals  they  ignored  the  teachings  of  Paul  in 
Gal.  4.  10.     He  says: 

' '  But  if  any  one  should  object  to  that  which  takes 
place  among  us  on  the  Lord  s-day,  or  the  Prepara- 
tion days,  or  on  the  days  of  the  Passover  or  of  Pente- 
cost, the  answer  is,  that  the  perfect  Christian  who 
continually,  by  words,  works,  and  thoughts,  lives 
in  accordance  with  the  Word  of  God,  his  natural 
Lord,  is  ever  in  his  days,  and  daily  keeps  a  Lord's- 
day.  He  also  who  continually  prepares  himself  to 
live  in  accordance  with  truth,  and  abstains  from  the 
pleasures  of  lite,  by  which  m^my  aie  deceived,  who 
does  not  feed  the  desires  of  the  flesh;  but  keeps  his 
body  under,  he  is  always  keeping  a  Preparation 
day."t 

Thus  does  Origen  surpass  his  predecessors,  oppos- 
ing even  the  idea  of  any  specific  time  for  public 
worship,  as  a  religious  duty.  He  teaches  a  mixture 
of  QO-Sabbathism  and  of  higher  Si  iritual  Sabbath- 
ism,  which  ignores  specific  time  as  sacred,  and  makes 
all  time  sacred  in  a  certain  degree.  Judging  by  the 
then  present  state  of  the  church    and  the  subse- 

*  Origensis  Opera  Omnia,  etc.,  Liber  t-econd,  p.  358,  Paris, 
1733. 

t  Contra  Celsum,  Lib.  viii.  chap.  22. 

t  Opera.  Liber  I,  p.  7.58.  Edition  above  quoted;  also,  Ante- 
Niceue  Lib.  Vol.  23,  p.  509. 


SABBATH     AI^D    SUNDAY. 


103 


quent  results,  Origen's  teacliings  helped  to  swell  the 
tide  of  practical  no-Sabbathism. 

CYPPaAN. 

Cyprian  was  Bishop  of  Carthage.  He  died  A.  D. 
258  His  views  concerning  the  Sunday  were  pat- 
terned after  those  of  Tertullian.  Neander  states 
that  "the  study  of  the  writings  of  Tertullian  had 
plainly  a  peculiar  influence  on  the  doctrinal  develop- 
ment of  Cypiian.  Jerome  relates,  after  a  tradition 
supposed  to  come  from  the  secretary  of  Cyprian, 
that  he  daily  read  some  part  of  Tertullian's  writings, 
and  was  accustomed  to  call  him  by  no  other  name 
than  that  of  Master."  The  passage  usually  quoted 
in  favor  of  the  Sunday  is  from  his  Epistles.  He  is 
considering  the  proper  time  for  the  baptism  of  in- 
fants, and  says: 

"For  in  that  in  the  Jewish  circumcision  of  the 
flesh  the  eighth  day  was  observed  a  mystery  was 
ffiven  beforehand,  in  a  shadow  and  ma  figure;  but 
when  Christ  came  it  was  accomplished  in  i^ahly 
For  because  the  eighth  day,  that  is  the  ^/st  after  the 
Sabbath,  was  to  be  that  whereon  our  Lord  would 
rise  aga  n  and  quicken,  and  give  }is  ^he  sp  ri  ual 
circumcision,  this  eighth  day  that  is  the  r.rst  a  er 
the  Sabbath,  and  the  Lord's-day.  was  ^l^^^fj^^^ 
fio-ure  Which  figure  ceased  when  the  reality  atter- 
w^ards  came,  and  when  the  spiritual  circmncision 
was  given  to  us.  On  which  account  we  think  that 
no  one  should,  by  that  law  which  was  before  or- 
dained, be  hindered,  from  obtaining  g'^^^;  /^^ 
should  the  spiritual  circumcision  be  hiudeied  by 
the  circumcision  of  the  flesh,  but  every  one 
is  to  be  by  all  means  -d-j^^^.to  the  grace  of 
Christ,    inasmuch  as  Peter  also,   in  the  Acts  ot  tbe 


lot  8ABBATH     AND    SUNDAY. 

Apostles,  speaks  and  says,  '  The  Lord  balh  showed 
me  that  1  sliould  not  call  any  man  common  or  un- 
ckan.'"     Acts  10:  28.* 

Such  vague,  unmeaning  mysticism  needs  no  c  )m- 
ment.  Instead  of  showing  that  these  writers  deemed 
the  Sunday  to  be  either  a  Sabbath,  or  the  Sabbath, 
it  rather  shows  how  much  the  works  of  these  lead- 
ing men  of  the  third  ceniury  are  marred  by  their 
efforts  to  find  a  hidden  meaning  in  all  ceremonies, 
numbers,  and  days. 

coKcr.usroNs. 

The  foregoing  are  all  of  the  important  witnesses 
in  favor  of  the  Sunday  for  the  first  three  centuries. 
Collating  their  testimony,  the  following  conclusions 
are  unavoidable: 

I  1.  No  traces  of  the  observance  of  the  Sunday  are 
■fou':d  unil  about  'he  middle  of  the  f-econd  ceniury. 
Those  api)ear  first  in  .fustin  ]\rartyr's  Fir-t  Apology. 
The  leading  reason  assli^ned  by  him  for  its  observ- 
ance is  founded  on  a  mystical  interpretation  of  cer- 
tain pa'S.ig(S  supposed  to  refer  to  the  millennium. 
The  supposed^  resurrection  of  Christ  on  thar  day  i3 


*  Epistles,  chap.  64,  sec.  4,  Oxford  Edition  of  Lib.  of  the 
Fathers,  but  numbered  as  58  in  Ante-Nicene  Lib.  Vol.  8,  p. 
196. 

tWe  say  "  sni)i)()sed,"  because  the  New  Tesfament  makes 
no '/.(ffii>if«  ftffifei/u/if  that  ChvUt  rose  on  Sunday.  So  far  as 
the  SiiV.bath  question  is  c()iKein«  d,  we  aie  willinjr  to  grant 
that  he  did.  But  the  Gospels  do  not  explicitly  state  this. 
For  discussi(mof  the  time  of  the  resurrection,  see  Sabbath 
and  Sunday,  Vol.  L,  pp.  .52-56. 


SABBATH    AXD    SLNJ)AY.  105 

mentumed  incidentally  as  a  secondary  reason.  About  | 
the  close  of  the  second  century,  the  id..a  of  com-  [j 
niemorating  the  resurrection  by  the  observance  of  j 
the  Sunday  increases,  and  the  term  "Lord's  day  "\ 
begins  1o  be  applied  to  i^ 

2.  During  the  third  century,  no-lawism  and  the 
no-Sa'>bath  theory  gain  the  ascendency  in  the  theo- 
ries of  the  leaders.  The  representative  writers  of  this 
century  teach  that  there  is  no  sacred  time  under  the 
gospel  d  spensation.  That  no  days  are  holy,  and  no 
observance  of  specific  times  religiously  binding. 
That  the  true  idea  of  the  Sabbath  c  msists  in  rest 
from  sin.  That  the  true  idea  of  the  Lord's  day  and 
its  associate  festivals  consists  in  communion  with 
Christ,  and  obedient  life.  The  fancies  of  Cyprian 
concerning  circumcision  as  a  type  of  the  "eighth 
day "  appear  toward  the  close  of  the  third  cen- 
tury. 

3.  The  observance  of  the  Sunday  which  then  pre 
vaiUd  was  notsahhatic.     In  the  second  century  there  '. 
is  no  trace  of  the  sabbatic  idea  connected  with  it.    It 
is  a  day,  some  part  of  which  is  used  f  .r  the  purpose  / 
of  pu'>lic  religious  instruction.     Inthe  third  century,/; 
the  celebration   of  the   Lord's   Supper  en    Sunda^/ 
seems  to  have  become  quite  general.     This  was  alsd/ 
done  regularly  on  at  least  three  otlier  days  in  each 
week.     The  interdiction  of  "  business  and  kneeling  " 
on  that  day.   which  appears  during  the  last  half  of 
the  third  century,  was  made  because  business  cares 
interrupted  tlmfestU  enjoyment  of  the  day.  and  not 


106  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

because  any  true  idea  as  of  a  Sabbath  was  enter 
tained.  This  is  shown  from  the  language  of  those 
passages  in  which  such  iaterdiction  appears,  and  in  the 
fact  that  these  same  writers  plead  strenuously  for 
the  Sabbath  as  a  life-rest  from  sin,  and  not  as  a  week- 
ly rest  from  labor.  Dr.  Hes^ey,  in  speaking  of  the 
'*Lord's-day"  at  this  period,  says: 

"  It  was  never  confounded  with  the  Sabbath,  but 
was  carefully  distinguished  from  it  as  sn  institution 
under  the  law  of  liberty,  observed  in  a  different  way 
and  with  diffeient  feelings,  and  exempt  from  the 
severity  of  the  provisions  which  were  supposed  to 
characterize  the  Sabbath."* 

Robert  Cox,  i- peaking  of  the  close  of  the  third 
century,  gives  the  following: 

"  But  although  Christian  theology  had  not  at  this 
time  assumed  the  systematic  form  which  it  after- 
wards attained,  there  is  no  ground  for  saying  that 
the  Fathers,  or  'the  Church  '  represented  by  them,  had 
formed  no  theory,  Sabbatarian  or  dominical,  of  the 
Lord's-day.  Often  did  the  question  occur  to  them, 
Why  do  we  honor  the  first  day  of  the  week  and  as- 
semble for  worship  upon  it?  And  to  this  question 
not  ODC  of  them  wh)  lived  before  the  reign  of  Con- 
stantine  has  either  answered,  with  Mr.  GilfiUan, 
'  Because  the  fourth  comniiudment  binds  the  Chris- 
tian Church  as  it  did  the  Jews,  and  the  Sabbatli-day 
was  changed  by  Christ  or  his  apostles  from  Satur- 
day to  SuLday,'  or  replied,  with  Dr.  Hessey,  'Be 
cause  the  apostles,  who  had  a  divine  commission, 
appointed  the  Lord's-day  to  be  observed  as  a  Chris- 
tian festival.'  On  the  contrary,  they  give  sundry 
other  reasons  of  their  ow^n,  fanciful  in  most  cases, 
and  ridiculous  in  some.     The  best  of  them  is  that 

*  Lectures  on  Sunday,  p.  49,  London,  1866. 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  107 

on  the  first  day  the  Saviour  had  risen  from  the  dead; 
and  the  others  chietly  are,  that  on  the  first  day  God 
changed  darkness  and  matter,  and  made  the  world; 
that  on  a  Sunday  Jesus  Christ  appeared  to  and  in- 
structed his  disciples;  that  the  command  to  circum- 
cise children  on  the  eighth  was  a  type  of  the  true 
circumcision,  by  which  we  were  circumcised  from 
error  and  wickedness  through  our  Lord,  who  rose 
from  the  dead  on  the  first  day  of  the  week;  and  that 
manna  was  first  given  to  the  Israelites  on  a  Sunday. 
From  which  the  inevitable  inference  is.  thit  they 
neither  had  found  in  Scripture  any  commandment — 
primeval,  Mosaic,  or  Christian  —  appointing  the 
Lord'sday  to  be  honored  or  observed,  nor  knew 
from  tradition  any  such  commandment  delivered 
by  Jefsus  or  his  apostles."* 


*  Sabbath  Literature,  Vol.  1;  p.  mi. 


CIIAPTEK  XL 

Other    Days    of    Worship. 

Before  considering  the  next  era  in  the  Sabbath 
question,  which  was  ushered  in  through  civil  legis 
lation,  it  is  well  to  notice  certain  other  days  of  wor 
ship,  which  sprang  up  previous  to  the  fourth  cen- 
tury. 

WEDNESDAY    AND    FRIDAY. 

The  fourth  and  the  sixth  days  of  the  week  as  semi- 
religious  fasts  were  made  prominent  among  the  pub- 
lic days  of  the  church  during  the  third  century.  Jo- 
seph Bingham  speaks  of  them  as  follows: 

"However,  it  was  not  long  after  Justin  Martyr's 
time,  before  we  are  sure  the  church  observed  the 
custom  of  meeting  solemnly  foi-  divine  worship  on 
Wednesdays  and  Fridays,  wliich  days  are  commonly 
called  stationary  days,  because  tliey  continued  their 
assemblies  on  these  days  to  a  great  lengtli,  till  three 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  .  .  .  Teitullian  assures  us, 
that  on  these  days  they  always  celebrated  ihe  com- 
munion, from  whence  we  ma)'^  infer,  that  the  same 
service  was  performed  on  these  days  as  on  the  Lord's 
day,  unless,  perhaps,  the  sermon  was  wanting.  Some 
there  were,  he  says,  who  objected  against  receiving 
the  commimion  on  these  days,  bjcaus-,  they  were 
scrupulously  afraid  they  should  break  their  fast  by 
eating  and  drinking  the  bread  and  wine  in  the  Eu- 
charist; and  thei-efore  they  chose  rather  to  absent 
themselves  from   the  oblation  prayers,  than  break 


eAPPAQH    A^'D    SIKDAY.  109 

their  fast,  as  they  imagined,  by  receiving  the   Eu- 
charist     Whom  he  undeceives  by  telling  them  that 
to  receive  the  Eucharist,  on  such  days  would  be  no 
infringement  of   their  fast,  but  bind  them  closer  to 
God-  their  station  would  be  so  much  the  more  sol- 
emn' for  their  standing  at  the  altar  of   God;  they 
mi^'-ht  re^eive   the   body  of  the  Lord  and  preserve 
their  fast  too,  and  so  both  would  be  safe,  wlulst  they 
both   participated   of   the   sacritice  and  discharged 
their  other  obligation.     Since,    therefore,    they   re- 
ceived the  Eucharist   on   these   days,  we  may  con- 
clude they  had  all  the  prayers  of  tlie  comnuuuoii  ot- 
tice    and  what  other  otttces  were  wont  to  go  before 
them,  as  the  psalmody  and  reading  of  the  i^criptures, 
and  prayers    for   the   catechumens   and    penitents, 
which,  together  with  the  sermons,  were  the  whole 
service  for  the  Lord  s  day.     But,  because   even  all 
this  could  not  take  up  near  so  much  time,  as  must 
needs  be  spent  in  these  stations,  it  seems  most  prob- 
able  tliat  in  two  particulars,  they  enlarged  their  ser- 
vice on  these  days.  th;it  is,  in  their  psanuody,  and 
private  prayers,  and  confession  of  sins.  The  Psalms, 
as   we  shall  see  hereafter,  were  sometimes  leiigth- 
ened  to  an  indefinite  nuiuber.  twenty,  thirty,  forty, 
fifty   or  more,  as  the  occasion  of  a  vigil  or  a  fast  re- 
quired, and  between  everv  psilm  they  had  liberty  to 
meditate  and  fall   to  th.  ir   private  prayers:  ami  by 
these  two  e.xereises,  so  lengthened  and  repeated,  it  is 
easy  to  conceive   how   the  longest  statu  n  uught  be 
employed.  ...  St.  Basil  agrees  with  Tertullian,  in 
making  these  days  not  only  fasts,  but   communion 
days;  for,  reckoning  up  how  many  days  in  the  week 
they  received  the  communion,  he  uiakes  ^^  ednesdMy 
and  Friday  to  be  two  of  the  number.     Yet.  still  it  is 
hard  to  conceive  what  business  they  could  have  to 
detain  them  so  long  in  the  church  since  their  collects 
and  public  prayers  were  but  few  in  ccmiparison,  and 
therefore  it  seems   most  probable  that  a  competent 
share  of  this  time  was  spent  in  psalmody,  and  as  1 


110  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

find  a  learned  person*  inclined  to  think,  in  private 
devotion,  which  always  had  a  share  in  their  service, 
and  was  generally  intermixed  with  their  singing  of 
psalms,  as  shall  be  showed  in  their  proper  places.*"f 

A  careful  study  of  the  foregoing  will  show  that 
religious  worship  was  more  fully  attended  to  on  the 
Wednesday  and  the  Friday  than  on  the  Sunday,  and 
an  extended  comparison  between  the  ' '  Fasts  "  and  the 
"Festivals"  of  the  second  and  third  centuries,,  will 
show  that  the  former  contributed  far  more  to  the  re- 
ligious life  of  those  times  than  the  latter  did.  This 
was  especially  true  in  the  Western  Church.  It  is 
certain,  from  Tertullian  and  others,  that  the  Sunday 
was  the  great  weekly  festival  of  '  *  Indulgence  for  the 
flesh."  As  such,  it  was  more  popular,  but  less  con- 
ducive to  true  spiritual  growth  and  Christian  devel- 
opment. There  is  further  testimony,  which,  though 
it  carries  us  over  into  the  next  century,  serves  to  cor- 
roborate what  has  already  been  said  concerning  Wed- 
nesday and  Friday.  Eusebius,  after  speaking  of  the 
laws  which  Constantine  made  relative  to  Sunday, 
adds: 

' '  He  also  ordered  that  they  should  reverence  those 
days  which  Immediately  precede  the  Sabbath,  be- 
cause, as  it  seems  to  me,  of  the  memorable  acts  of 
our  Saviour  upon  those  days.  'X 

Sozomen,  who  wrote  about  450  A.  D.,  speaking  of 
Constantine,  says: 

"He  also  enjoined  the    observance   of    the  day 

*  StUlingfleet.  Orig.,  Britan,  p.  221. 
\  Antiquities  of  the  Christian  Church,  Book  13,    chap.    9. 
Also  Book  14,  chap.  1,  and  Book  15,  chap.  1,  sec.  1. 
X  De  Vita  Constantini,  Liber  4,  chap.  18. 


SA.BBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  Ill 

termed  the  Lord's-day  which  the  Jews  call  the  first 
dav  of  the  week  and  which  the  Greeks  dedicate  to 
the  sun,   as  likewise    the  day   before  the  seventh, 
and  commanded  that  no  judicial  or  other  business 
should  be  transacted  on  those  days,   but  that   CrOd 
should  be  served  with  prayers  and  supplications.    He  , 
honored  the  Lord's  day  because  on  it  Christ  arose  | 
from  the  dead,  and  the  day  above  mentioned  because  j 
on  it  he  was  crucified."* 

Heylyn,  having;  quoted  Eusebius  and  Sozomen  as 
above,  adds: 

"  For  I  do  not  conceive  that  they  met  every  day  in 
these  times  to  receive  the  Sacraments.     Of  Wednes- 
day  and  Friday  it  is  plain  they  did,  (not  to  say  any- 
thing of  Saturday  until  the  next  section),    .fe;  l^asU 
(Ernst.  289)  names  them  all  together.     '  It  is,    saitli 
he    '  a  profitable  and  pious  thing,  every  day  to  com- 
municate and  to  participate  of  the  blessed  body  and 
blood  of   Christ  our  Saviour,  he  having  told  us  in 
Dlain  terms,  that  whosever  eateth  his  flesh  and  drink- 
eth  his  blood,  hath  eternal  life.     We,  notwithstand- 
ing do  communicate  but  four  times  weekly,  on  the 
Lord's-day,    the  Wednesday,   the  Friday,   and  the 
Saturday,  unless  on  any  other  days  the  memory  of 
some  martyr  be  perhaps  observed.     Epiphanms  go- 
eth  a  little  further  and  deriveth  the  Wednesday  s 
and  the  Friday's  service  even  Irom  the  apostles, 
ranking  them  in  the  same  antiquity  and  groundmg 
them  upon  the  same  authority  that  he  doth  the  Sun- 
day     Only  it  seems  the  difl:erence  was,  that  whereas 
formerly  it  had  been  the  custom  not  to  administer 
the  Sacrament  on  these  two  days  (being  both  of  them 
fasting  days,  and  so  accounted  long  before)  until  to- 
ward evening;  it  had  been  changed  of  late   and  they 
did  celebrate  in  the  mornings,  as  on  the  Lord  s-day 
was   accustomed.     Whether  the   meetings  on  these 

*  Ecc.  Hist.,  Book  1,  Chap.  8. 


112  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

days  were  of  such  antiquity  as  EpipLaniiis  saitli  tliey 
were,  I  will  not  meddle.  Certain  it  is,  that  they 
were  very  ancient  in  tlie  Church  of  God,  as  may  ap- 
pear by  that  of  Origeu  and  Tertullian  before  men- 
tioned."'* 

Coleman  says: 

"It  appears,  liowever,  from  his  (Origen's)  observa- 
tions, that  at  Alexandria,  Wednesdays  and  Fridays 
were  tlien  observed  as  fast  days,  on  the  gruund  that 
our  Lord  was  betrayed  on  a  Wednesday  and  cruci- 
fied on  a  Friday.  The  custom  of  the  Chuntli  at  the 
end  of  the  fourth  centur}^  may  be  collected  from  the 
following-  passage  of  Epiv>hanius:  '  In  the  whole 
Christian  CJiurch,  the  following  fast  days  through- 
out the  year  are  regularl}'  observed.  On  Wednes- 
days and  Fridays  we  fast  until  the  ninth  hour,  {i.  e., 
three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,)  except  during  the  in- 
terval of  fifty  days  between  Easter  and  Wliitsuntide, 
in  which  it  is  usual  neither  to  kneel  or  to  fast  at 
all.'  "f 

Neander  says: 

"And  further,  two  other  days  in  the  week,  Fri- 
day and  Wednesday,  particularly  the  i'ormer,  were 
consecrated  to  tlie  remembrance  of  the  suilerings  of 
Christ,  and  of  the  circumstances  preparatory  to  them, 
congregations  were  held  on  them,  and  a  fast  till  three 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  But  nothing  was  positive- 
ly appointed  concerning  them;  in  respect  to  joining 
in  tiiese  solemnities  ewiiYj  one  consulted  his  own  con- 
venience or  inclinations.  8uch  fasts,  joined  with 
prayer,  were  considered  as  the  watches  of  the  '  Mil- 
itesChristi'  on  their  part  as  Christians,  (who  com- 
pared their  calling  to  a  warfare — the  Militia  Christi, 


*  Hist.  Sab  ,  Part  2.  Chap.  3,  Sec.  4. 
■f  Ancient  Christianity,  etc.,  pp.  .5.i2,  .5.53. 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  113 

and  they  were   '  stationes  '—and  the  days  on  which 
they  took  place  were  called  dies  stationum."* 

Similar  testimony  mi^ht  be  continued  were  it  nec- 
essary. But  that  already  adduced  is  sufficient  to  es- 
tablish the  conclusion  that  the  weekly  "fasts,"  Wed- 
nesday and  Friday,  and  the  Sabbath  were  each  de- 
voted more  to  worship  and  spiritual  culture  than  the 
Sunday  was.  The  foregoing  testimony  also  shows 
that  when  men  assert  that  Sunday  was  the  only  day 
for  public  religious  worship  and  rest  after  the  resur- 
rection of  Christ,  they  are  either  ignorant  or  careless 
or  dish  nest.  Sunday  was  more  popular  than  either 
Wednesday,  or  Friday,  or  the  Sabbath,  because  it 
was  more  festal,  "  a  day  of  indulgence  for  the  flesh." 
Indeed,  the  Sunday  at  the  close  of  the  third  century 
stood  related  to  the  lives  of  the  people  much  as  it 
now  stands  in  those  European  lands  where  no-Sab- 
bathism  has  long  held  sway  and  borne  its  legitimate 
fruit. 

Before  passing  to  the  next  chapter,  it  will  be  well 
to  recapitulate  the  facts  already  gathered  concerning 
the  rise  of  no-Sabbathism  and  Sunday.  This  is 
the  more  impo' tant  since  otherwise  the  reader  is 
easily  led  into  tl  e  mistaken  idea  that  the  stream  of 
Apostolic  Christianity  came  down  the  centuries.unpol- 
luted,  and  developed  no-Sabbathism  and  the  Sunday 
festival,  as  C/^mf^/w. institutions.  The  ultimate  facts 
show  that  they  were  the  product  of  Pagan  influen- 
ces. We  have  seen  that  there  is  no  definite  and  au- 
thentic mention  of  Sunday  until  the  middle  of  the 
*  Hist  Ch.,  First  Three  Cen.,  p.  186. 


114  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

second  century,  by  Juslin  Martyr,  and  also  that  he  is 
the  first  to  promulgate  a  broad  unscriptural  no-Sab- 
bathism.  W,e  Lave  seen  that  the  first  mention  of 
Sunday  by  him  is  in  an  "apology  "  to  a  Pagan  Em- 
peror whom  he  is  seeking  to  placate  toward  Chris- 
tians. These  facts  cannot  appear  in  their  true  light 
unless  we  know  the  general  slate  of  the  church,  es- 
pecially west  of  Palestine,  at  this  time.  It  is 
well  known  that  in  the  Apostolic  Age  there  was 
no  distinct  organization  nor  specific  separation  of 
those  who  accepted  Christ,  from  the  Jewish 
Church.  They  were  still  held  as  members,  or  at 
least,  as  a  party  in  that  Church.  The  first  con- 
verts were  Jews,  and  a  sharp  struggle  took  place 
before  the  gospel  could  be  carried  to  the  Gentiles,  or 
Gentile  converts  admitted  to  the  fellowship  of  the 
believers  in  Christ.  Even  as  late  as  the  time  of  the 
earlier  persecutions,  these  were  waged  against  the 
followers  of  Christ  as  a  sect  of  the  Jews.  There  was 
no  definite  line  of  distinction  organically  between  the^ 
Christian  and  the  Jewish  Churches,  until  the  opening 
of  the  second  century.  We  oifer  the  following  tes- 
timony from  high  authority: 

"With  the  beginning  of  the  second  century  there 
came  a  great  change  in  the  situation  of  the  Chris' 
tians.  The  separation  of  Christianity  from  Judaism 
was  completed  so  as  to  be  recognized  even  by  hea- 
then ej-es.  The  destruction  of  Jerusalem  put  an  end 
to  the  outward  existence  of  the  Jewish  nationality. 
The  temple  fell,  the  sacrifices  ceased.  .  .  .  Spread 
abroad  over  the  earth,  without  a  local  center,  (»r  the 
bond  which  had  existed  hitherto  in  the  temple  serv- 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  115 

ice,  Judaism  hcnccfoilb  was  united  only  by  the  com- 
mon law,  and  by  the  common  doctrine  contained  in 
the  newly  collect ed  Talmud.  Thus  it  became  com- 
pletely separated  from  Christianity.  Talmudic  Ju- 
daism severed  all  the  connections  which  had  hither- 
to bound  it  to  Christianity.  Henceforth  three  times 
every  day  in  the  synagogues  was  invoked  the  awful 
curse  on"  the  renegades,  the  Christians.  It  came  to 
be  a  rare  exception  for  a  Jew  to  go  over  to  Chris- 
tianity, while  the  heathen  thronged  into  the  church 
in  ever  increasing  numbers.  1  he  remainder  of  the 
Jewish  Christians  dwindled  away  or  disappeared 
entirely  in  the  churches  of  heathen  Christians,  or 
turned  heretics  and  were  cut  off  from  tl  e  church. 
The  church  now  found  the  fidd  for  its  work  and 
growth  almost  exclusively  in  the  heathen  world,  and 
became  composed  entirely  of  Gentile  Christians.  It 
was  therefore  no  longer  possible  to  confound  the 
Christians  with  the  Jews."* 

These  facts  referred  to  by  Dr.  Uhlhorn  have  a 
much  deeper  bearing  on  the  question  of  Sunday  ob 
servance  than  may  at  first  appear.  There  is  no  men- 
tion of  any  form  of  Sunday  observance  in  the  church, 
until  nearly  or  quite  fifty  years  after  the  time  when 
the  church  was  thus  crowded  with  what  he  calls  the 
heathen  Christians.  Even  Pliny's  letter,  so  often 
quoted  for  the  sake  of  its  "stated  day,"  was  written 
after  that  time;  and  Justin's  Apology  was  not  writ- 
ten until  these  "heathen  Christians"  had  held  pos- 
session of  the  Western  Church  for  more  than  a  gener  - 
ation.  It  was  this  influx  of  Pagan  converts  which 
brought  in  Sunday,  their  "venerable  day,"  and  grad- 
ually, though  slowly,  displaced  the   Sabbath.     The 

*  Conflict  of  Christianity  with  Heathenism,  by  Dr.  Gerhard 
Uhlhorn,  Hanover,  Germany,  pp.  253,  ;^54. 


116  SABBATH   AND   SUNDAY. 

changes  wliich  followed  during  the  second  and  third 
centuries,  strengthened  this  heatlien  element  in,  Vie 
church,  and  at  length  revived  the  sun  worship  at 
Rome.  A  strong  tendency  to  religious  syncretism 
prevailed,  and  the  Egyptian  and  Oriental  gods  were 
much  honored.     Speaking  of  this,  Uhlhorn  says: 

*'Even  the  Persian  Mithras,  the  last  in  the  series 
of  the  gods  who  constantly  migrated  to  Rome  from 
farther  and  farther  east,  now  had  numerous  worship- 
ers. He  was  a  god  of  light,  a  sun  god;  as  god  of 
the  setting  sun,  he  was  also  god  of  the  nether  world; 
also  as  the  invincible  god,  (the  invincible  compan- 
ion, as  he  was  often  called,)  he  became  the  patron  of 
warriors,  and  as  such  thoroughly  fitted  for  those 
times  in  which  the  whole  world  M'as  filled  with  war. 
His  worship  was  always  held  in  a  cave.  In  Rome 
the  cave  penetrated  deep  into  the  Capitoline  Hill. 
Emperors  were  numbered  among  his  adorers,  and 
everywhere  where  Roman  armies  came  (on  the  Rhine 
for  instance)  there  images  and  caves  of  Mithras  have 
been  found.  This  religious  syncretism  reached  its 
culmination  when  Elagabalus,  a  Syrian  priest  of  the 
sun,  becoming  Emperor,  had  the  sun  god,  after 
whom  he  was  named,  brought  from  Emesa  to  Rome, 
in  the  form  of  a  conical  black  stone.  In  Rome  a 
costly  temple  was  built,  and  great  sacrifices  were  of- 
fered to  him."* 

This  was  A.  D.  318-222.  It  shows  how,  by  the 
growth  of  sun  worship,  Sunday  was  naturally  ex- 
alted in  the  Roman  Empire,  and  necessarily  in  the 
church  which  was  being  steadily  crowded  by  heathen 
converts,  many  of  whom,  like  Justin  Martyr,  ac- 
cepted Christianity  as  a  superior  philosophy  in  keep- 

*  Conflict,  etc.,  pp.  314,  315. 


SABB.ITFI     VXD    SUSDXY.  117 

ing  with  the  prevailing  tendency  to  religious  syncre- 
tism. This  same  Elagabalus  made  room  for  a  chapel 
for  Christianity  in  his  temple  for  all  the  gods, 
and  offered  "Christ  a  place  in  the  Roman  Pan. 
theon,  by  the  side  of  Jupiter,  Isis,  and  Mithras."* 
During  the  last  half  of  the  third  century  the  influx 
of  the  Pagan  converts  was  still  greater,  and  although 
Christianity  was  thus  steadily  preparing  for  the  po- 
litical victory  under  Constantiue,  during  the  lirst 
quarter  of  the  next  century,  yet  that  was  gained  only 
at  a  cost  to  the  purity  of  the  church  which  made  the 
victory  a  sad  defeat,  in  many  respects.  The  truths 
of  Christianity  could  not  be  destroyed,  but  the  church 
became  so  corrupted  by  the  Pagan  influences,  that  it 
was  no  longer  the  counterpart  of  the  apostolic  mod- 
el. So  the  third  century  closes  with  the  European 
branch  of  the  Christian  Church  filled  with  "Pagan 
Christians."  Its  literature  is  full  of  undisguised  and 
unscriptural  no-Sabbath  theories.  The  Sunday  has 
become  a  popular  weekly  festival,  which  formed  a 
sort  of  common  ground  for  all,  by  uniting  the  Pagan 
elements  of  popular  sun  worship,  with  the  idea  of  a 
resurrection  festival,  at  the  time  when  festivals  of  al^ 
kinds  formed  a  characteristic  feature  of  the  age.  Up 
to  this  time  not  a  word  appears  in  any  of  the  litera- 
ture which  indicates  the  transference  of  the  Sabbath 
to  the  Sunday,  or  the  making  of  Sunday  a  Sabbath 
according  to  the  fourth  commandment.  On  the  con- 
trary we  have  found  so  noted  a  man  as  Tertullian 
seeking  to  draw  professed  Christians  away  from  oth- 
*  Uhlhom,  p.  334. 


118  SABBATH    AXD    SUNDAY. 

er  Pagan  festivals  by  reminding  them  that  they  had, 
in  the  Sunday,  a  day  of  "  indulgence  for  the  flesh." 
Well  does  Uhlhorn  call  the  leading  men  of  these 
times  "Pagan  Christians." 

Before  entering  upon  the  fourth  century,  wc  stop 
to  note  the  history  of  the  Sabbath  during  the  period 
from  the  close  of  the  New  Testament  history  to 
that  century. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

Post-Apostolic   J^istory    op 

THE    Sabbath    to    the 

Fourth    Century. 

In    chapters   II   and    IV  we    have   shown   that 
the  current  of  Sabbath  history  runs  full  and  clear 
through  the  Gospels  and  the  book  of  Acts.     Those 
post-apostolic  wrilini,rs  which  are  assigned  the  earli- 
est place,  show  no  trace  of  any  practice  or  leaching 
opposed  to  the  doctrine  and  practice  of  Christ  and 
his  apostles,  on  this  point.     The  first  traces  of  any 
form  of  Sunday  observance,  or  of  no-Sabbathism, 
appear  nmultaneously,  and  in  the  same  man,  Justin, 
about  the  middle  of   the  second  century.     These 
teachings,  so  antagonistic  to  the  teachings  of  Christ 
and  the  apostles,  did  not  and  could  not  appear  until    ^ 
the  heathen  element  gained  control  of  the  church.    , 
Since  the  Sabbath  was  a  prominent  feature  in  the  j| 
Jewish  creed   and    practice,    the    bitter    prejudice 
wh"ch  grew  up  between  the  heathen  and  the  Jew  sh  |/ 
elements  in  the  church,   bore  heavily  upon  it;  and 
when  the  heathen  element  gained  control  of  the 
church,  it  set  about  the  development  of  theories  and 
practices  which  would  efface,  if  possible,    this  so- 
caUed  feature  of  Judaism  from  the  church.     The 
fact  that  Justin  and  his  successors  pressed  their  no- 


120  SABBATH     AND    SUNDAY. 

Sabbath  philosophy  shows  that  the  Sabbath  was  yet 
vigorous  in  its  bold  upon  the  cburcb,  even  after  the 
Jewish  element  had  been  driven  out.  The  strong 
weapon  with  which  no  Sabbathism  fought  the  Sab- 
bath during  the  last  Lalf  of  the  second  century,  and 
the  third,  fourth,  and  fifth  centuries,  was,  that  the 
observance  of  the  Sabbath  was  Judaistic.  It  is 
clear  that  if  the  Sabbath  bad  died  during  the  New 
Testament  period,  as  some  claim,  it  could  not  have 
been  resurrected,  and  restored  to  such  vigor  by  the 
Pagan  element  in  the  church,  as  to  make  it  necessa 
ry  for  that  same  element  to  introduce  its  no-Sabbath 
philosophy  as  a  defense  against  the  Sabbath.  The 
urgency  with  which  the  no  Sabbath  doctrine  was 
pressed,  from  the  time  of  Justin  forward,  shows 
that  the  Sabbath  had  a  strong  hold  even  on  Gentile 
Christians,  which  could  not  be  broken  except  by 
continued  appeal  to  man's  natural  love  for  lawless- 
ness, and  his  desires  for  a  weekly  festival  for  "  in- 
dulgence to  the  flesh,"  as  Tertullian  calls  Sunday. 
Viewed  in  the  light  of  the  philosophy  of  history,  the 
fact  that  the  Sabbath  was  so  persistently  oppostd, 
and  at  length  legislated  against,  in  that  portion  of  the 
church  which  had  been  for  st  vet  al  generations  un 
der  the  control  of  the  Gentile  Christians,  is  more  than 
an  answer  to  the  loosely  made  assertion  that  the  Sab- 
bath ceased  to  be  observed  during  the  apostolic  pe 
riod. 

Another  important  fact  must  be  remembered  here, 
namely,  the  authors  of  the  no-Sabbath  theories, 
which  began  with   Justin,  were  men   of  Pagan,  not 


SABBATH    AND   SUNDAY.  l"'^! 

Apostolic  culture.     The  doctrine  was  the  residuum 
of  Pagan  philosophy.     There  was  a  modicum  of 
Christian  truth  in  that  part  of  the   theory  which 
some  propounded,   that  the    true    Christian    made 
every  day  a  Sabbath.     But  that  statement  is  rather     ^ 
a  description  of  certain  results  in  high  spiritual  cult-     | 
ure  which  can  never  be  attained  except  through  the     | 
agency  of  the  Sabbath  in  lifting  men  to  that  high     | 
standard.     Another  element  of  truth    was  that  the    , 
Sabbath  should  not  be  kept  by  merely  foimal  idle-   , 
ness  as  the  Jews  were  charged  with  doing.     But  the  ; 
fundamental  misconception  lay  in  teaching  that  the 
law  was  abrogated,  that  men  were  free  from  resin,  int,  / 
and  might  give  themselves  up  to  festival  mAn]giinces. 
These  elements  of  truth  gilded  the  theory  to  eyes 
which  looked  with  bitter  prejudice  on  all  things  as 
sedated  with  Judaism,  while  the  fundamental,  prac- 
tical lawlessness  of  the  theory  was  regarded  as  its 
great  merit  by  the  low  spiritual  culture  of  the  pre 
vailing  Paganism.       Men  whose  gods    had   been, 
hitherto,  only  enlarged  editions  of  themselves,  rev- 
eling on  Olympus,  and  delighting  in  sensuous  m 
dulgences,  were  not  ready  to   embrace  the  new  re- 
ligion until  the  rigidness  of  the  fourth  command 
menthad  been  so  softened  that  the  Sabbath  could  be 
put  aside,  and  a  week]y  festival  put  along  side  of  it, 
and  at  length  in  its  place.     But  the  facts  show  that 
in  spite  of  this  abrogation  of  the   Sabbath  in  the 
theories  of  the  philosophers,  the  influence  of  Apostolic 
Christianity  was  so  strong  that  the   people  contin- 
ued to  keep  the    Sabbath  long    after  the  philoso- 


122  SABBATH    AN^D    SUXDAT. 

pliers  had  decried  it.  Keep  in  mind  the  fact  that 
neither  the  Sunday  festival  nor  the  doctrine  of  uo- 
Babbaihism  appears  in  history  until  a  half  a  century 
after  the  time  when  Uhlhorn  says  the  western  wing 
of  the  church  was  ruptured  from  the  Jewish  clement, 
and  filled  with  Pagan  converts. 

But  evidence  is  not  wanting  to  show  that  the  no- 
Sabhathism  of  Justin  and  his  successors  was  not 
universally  accepted,  and  that  it  was  definitely  op- 
posed by  some  whose  theories  were  tar  more  apos- 
tolic than  Justin's  philosophie  vagaries  were. 
Irenaeus,  who  was  Bishop  of  Ljons,  France,  during 
the  latter  part  of  the  second  century,  wrote 
his  noted  work  Arjainst  Heresies,  about  185  A.  D., 
about  tw^enty  years  after  the  death  of  Justin.  He 
treats  the  idea  that  Christ  abolished  the  Sabbath  as 

\  a  Eeresu,  as  it  was,  from  the  apostolic  standpoint. 

'i  These  are  his  words: 

"  For  the  Lord  vindicated  Abraham's  posterity  by 
loosing  them  from  bondage  and  calling  them  to  sal- 
vation, as  he  did  in  the  cafceof  the  woman  whom  he 
healed,  saying  openly  to  those  who  had  not  faith 
like  Abraham,  '  >e  hypocrites,  dotti  not  each  one  of 
you  on  the  Sabbath-days  loose  his  ox  or  his  ass,  and 
lead  him  awa}'  to  watei  ing?  And  ought  not  this  wom- 
an, being  a  daughter  of  Abraham,  whom  Satan  hath 
bound  these  eighteen  years,  be  loosed  from  this  bond 
on  the  Sabbaihi-days? '  It  is  clear,  then  fore,  that  he 
loosed  and  vivified  those  who  believed  in  him,  as 
Abraham  did,  doino  nothing  contrary'  to  the  law 
when  he  healed  upon  the  Sabbath-day.  For  the 
law  did  not  ])rohil)it  men  from  lieing  healed  upon 
the  Sabbaths:  [on  the  contrary,]  it  even  circumcised 
them  upon  that  day,  and  gave  command  that  the 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY, 


123 


offices  should  be  peiformed  by  the  priests  for  the 
ptople-  yea  it  di(i  ii.t  disallow  the  healing  even  of 
dumb  animals.  Both  at  ISilQiiin  and  on  f n  qncnt 
subsequent occas^ions,  did  he  perform  cures  upon  the 
Babbath;  and  for  this  reason  many  used  to  resort  to 
bim  on  the  Sa')bath-days.  For  tlie  law  commanded 
them  to  abstain  from  every  servile  work,  ihat  is 
from  all  grasping  afier  wealth  wbuh  is  pro- 
cured by  trading  and  by  other  worldly  busi- 
ness- but  it  exborted  them  to  attend  to  the  exercises 
of  the  soul,  which  consist  in  reflection,  and  to  ad- 
dresses of  a  beneficial  kind  for  their  neighbors  bene- 
fit And,  therefore,  the  Lord  reproved  those  who 
unjustly  blamed  him  for  having  healed  upon  the 
Sal)ba1h-days.  For  lie  did  not  make  void,  but  tul- 
fiiled  the  law.  by  performing  the  olfices  ot  the  high 
priest,  propitiating  God  for  man,  and  cleausintr  the 
lepers  healing  the  sick,  and  himseU  suffering  death, 
that  exiled  man  might  go  forth  from  condemna- 
tion, and  might  return  without  fear  to  his  own  in- 
heritance."* 

We  have  also  certain  "Remains  "of  one  Arche 
laus,  a  Bishop  who  a^so  wrote  against  Heresies.  His 
Disputaiion  with  Manes,  dates  probably  from  280 
A.  D.     In  this  he  speaks  as  follows  :f 

"Again  as  to  the  assertion  that  the  Sabbath  has 
been  abolished,  we  deny  that  he  has  abolished  it 
plainly  plane).  For  he  was  himself  also  Lord  ol 
the  Sabbath.  And  this,  the  law's  relation  to  the 
Sabbath,  was  like  the  servani  who  has  charge  ot  the 
bridegroom's  couch,  and  who  prepares  the  same 
with  all  carefulness,  and  does  not  sutler  it  lo  be  dis- 
turbed or  touched  l.y  any  strana^er,  but  keeps  it  in- 
tact against  the  time  of  the  bridegroom  s  ai rival;  so 

♦Tren^us  Ajjainst  Heresies,  Book  4,  chap.  8,  Ante-Nicene 
Library,  vol.1,  p.  397.       ^  ^^^_  ^_ 


124  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

that  when  he  is  come,  the  bed  may  be  used  as  it 
pleases  himself,  or  as  it  is  granted  to  those  to  use  it 
whom  he  has  bidden  along  with  him.'* 

Tertulliati  is  more  noted  as  a  voluminous  writer 
than  as  a  consistent  one.  He  sometimes  advocates 
no  Sabbathism  undisguisedly;  but  at  other  times  he 
taught  a  far  more  Scriptural  doctrine.  The  exact 
date  of  his  writings  against  the  heresies  of  Marcion 
is  unknown,  although  the  first  book,  is  fixed  at  208  A. 
D.  The  fourth  book  came  at  a  later  period.  Bishop 
Kaye  supposes  his  death  to  have  occurred  about  220 
A.  D.  We  may  safely  conclude  that  the  fourth  book 
against  Marcion,  appeared  during  the  firi^t  quarter 
of  the  third  century.  Chapter  12  of  that  book  is 
"Concerning  Christ's  authority  over  the  Sabbath," 
etc.     His  conclusions  are  as  follows: 

"  Thus  Christ  did  not  at  all  rescind  the  Sabbath. 
He  kept  the  law  thereof,  and  both  in  the  former 
case  did  a  work  which  was  beneficial  to  the  life  of 
his  disciples  (for  he  indulged  them  with  the  relief  of 
food  when  they  were  hungry),  and  in  the  pnsent  in 
stance  cured  the  withered  hand .  in  each  case  inti- 
mating by  facts:  '  I  came  not  to  destroy  the  law  but 
to  fulfill  it ';  although  Marcion  has  gagged  his  mouth 
by  this  word.  For  even  In  the  case  before  us  he 
fulfilled  the  law,  while  interpreting  its  condition. 
[Moreover.]  He  exhibits  in  a  clear  iight  the  differ- 
ent kinds  of  work,  while  doing  what  the  law  excepts 
from  the  sacredness  of  the  Sabbath,  [and]  while  im- 
parting to  the  Sabbath  day  itself,  which  from  the 
beginning  had  been  consecrated  by  the  benediction 
of  the  Father,  an  additional  sanctity  by  his  own 
beneficent  action.     For  he  furnished  to  this  day  di 

*  Ante-Nicene  Library,  Vol.  20,  p.  373. 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  125 

vine  safeguards, — a  course  which  his  adversary 
would  have  pursued  for  some  other  days,  to  avoid 
honoring  the  Creator's  Sabbath,  and  restoring  to  the 
Sabbath  the  works  which  were  proper  for  it.  Since, 
in  like  manner,  the  prophet  Ellsha,  on  this  day  re- 
stored to  life  the  dead  sou  of  the  Shunammite  wom- 
an, you  see,  O  Pharisee,  and  you  too  O  Marcion, 
how  ihi\t  it  was  [proper  employment]  for  the  Crea- 
tor's Sabbaths  of  old  to  do  good,  to  save  life,  not  to 
destroy  it;  how  that  Christ  introduced  nothing  new, 
which  was  not  a^.ter  the  example,  the  gentleness,  the 
mercy,  and  the  prediction  also  of  the  Creator.  For 
in  this  very  example  he  fulfills  tne  prophetic  an- 
nouncement of  a  specific  healing:  '  The  weak  hands 
are  strengthened,'  as  were  also,  *  the  feeble  knees,' 
in  the  sick  of  the  palsy."* 

If  Tertullian,  in  the  above,  contradicts  his  own 
words  in  other  places,  the  ultimate  test  is  not  be- 
tween his  inconsistencies,  but  between  his  theories 
and  the  facts  of  the  Bible.  Judged  by  this  standard 
the  foregoing  is  essentially  correct.  Incidental 
proof  that  the  Sabbath,  in  its  proper  character,  and 
under  its  proper  name,  continued  through  the  cen- 
turies, while  no  Sabbathism  was  developing,  is  found 
in  the  fact  that  Anatolius,  Bishop  of  Laodicea  who 
was  a  mathematician  of  repute,  prepared  a  Ghronol- 
<^y  of  Eai^ter,  evidently  to  aid  in  the  settlement  of 
ihat  much  discussed  question.  The  date  of  the 
work  is  placed  in  the  latter  part  of  the  third  cen 
tury.  This  "Easter  table"  uses  the  terms  Sab 
bath  and  Lord's-day  in  their  regular  order,  showing 
how  the  names  and  the  days  were  then  held.f 

*  Ante-Nioene  Library.'Vol.  7,  pp.  219,  220. 
t  Ante-Nicene  Library,  Vol.  14,  p.  423. 


126  SABBATH     AND    SUNDAY. 

The  foregoing  extracts  show  that  no-Sabbathism 
did  not  come  in  unchallenged,  but  that  it  was  op- 
posed as  a  heresy,  and  that  the  truth  was  defended 
on  good  and  Scriptural  grounds.  There  is  no  rea- 
son to  believe  that  Sunday  gained  any  pre-eminence 
over  the  Sabbath,  even  though  it  did  appeal  to  the 
lower  elements  of  men's  nature  by  its  feslal  charac- 
ter, until  after  the  time  of  Constaniine,  when  it  was 
exalted  through  civil  legislation.  No  one  claims 
that  the  "Longer"  form  of  the  Epistle  of  Ignatius 
to  the  Magnesians,  is  genuine.  Its-  date  is  unknown; 
but  we  deem  it  to  belong  to  the  last  half  of  the 
fourth  century,  or  to  the  fifth.  But  we  are  willing, 
for  sake  of  the  argument,  to  grant  it  an  Ante-Nicene 
place,  that  is,  before  3"25  A.  D,  Whenever  it  was 
written,  it  shows  that  at  that  time,  the  writer  taught 
a  just  and  Scriptural  view  of  Sabbath  observance, 
and  asked  for  Sunday  only  a  festal  character.  It 
was  to  him  the  "  Queen,"  of  the  days  because  it  was 
di  feast  as  opposed  to  the  Sabbath,  the  Friday,  and 
the  Wednesday  which  were  held  to  be  sorrowful 
fasts.  In  chapter  9,  —  long-form,  speaking  of 
Christ,  the  writer  says: 

'  The  prophets  were  his  servants,  and  foresaw  him 
by  the  Spirit,  and  waited  for  him  as  their  Teacher, 
and  expected  him  as  their  Lord  ai-d  Saviour,  say 
ing,  '  He  will  come  and  save  us.'  Let  us  therefore 
no  longer  keep  the  Sabbath  after  the  Jewish  man 
ner,  and  rejoice  in  days  of  idleness;  for  'he  that 
does  not  work,  let  him  not  eit.'  For  say  the  [aoly] 
oracles,  '  In  the  s-weat  of  thy  face  shalt  tliou  eat  thy 
bread.'     But  let  every  one  of  you  keep  the  Sabbath 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  127 

after  a  spiritual  manner,  rejoicing  in  meditation  on 
the  law,  not  in  rclaxition  ot"  the  iiody,  a  imirin;^  the 
workmanship  (.f  God.  and  noteaiin<?  things  p-epared 
the  day  before,  nor  usinc?  lukewarm  drinks,  and 
walking  within  a  prescribed  space,  nor  finding  de- 
light in  dancing  and  plaudits  wliich  have  no  sense 
in  them.  And  after  the  observance  of  the  Sabbath, 
let  every  friend  of  Christ  keep  the  Lords-day  as  a 
festival,  the  n  snrrection  dav,  the  queen  and  chief 
of  all  the  days  [of  the  week].""* 

Tie  foregoing  from  authors  who  wrote  previous 
to  the  fourth  century,  is  fully  sustained  by  the  state- 
ments of  both  earlier  and  later  historians. 

Socrates  says: 

"  Such  as  dwell  at  Rome,  fast  three  weeks  before 
Easter,  except  the  Sabbath  and  Sundfiy.  .  .  .  Again 
touching  the  communion,  there  are  sundry  customs, 
for  although  all  the  churohe'S  throughout  the  whole 
world  do  celebrate  and  receive  the  Jioly  mysteries 
each  returning  week  upon  the  Sabbath,  yet  the  peo- 
ple inhabiing  Alexandria  and  Kome.  from  an  old 
tradition,  refuse  thus  to  do.  The  Egyptians,  who 
are  neighbors  to  the  Alexandrians,  togeiher  with  the 
Thebians,  celebrate  the  communion  on  the  Sab- 
bath." 

Again  he  says: 

•'Therefore,  when  the  festivals  of  each  week  oc- 
curred, namely,  the  Sabbath,  and  dominical  d«y,  in 
which  they  (Christians)  were  wont  to  assemble  in 
the  churches,  they  (the  Arians)  congregating  in  the 
porches  of  the  gates  of  the  city,  sung  such  songs  as 
were  fitted  to  the  opinions  of  Arius.'  f  etc, 

Sozomen;  a  contemporary    of    Socrates,   writing 

*  Ante-Nicene  Library,  Vol.  1,  p.  180. 
tEcc.  Hist.,  Book  5,  chap.  21;  and  Book  6,  chap.  8,  Latin 
Edition,  1570. 


128  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY, 

probably  ten  or  fifteen  years  later,   (about  A.  D. 
460,)  has  the  following: 

"  The  Sabbath,  from  the  evening  forward,  for  a 
euitalile  time,  is  used  in  vigils  and  prayers;  and  the 
day  following  there  is  a  public  meeting  of  ail  in 
common,  when  each  partakes  of  the  mysteries."* 

The  phrase  ''From  the  etening  forward,"  shows 
that  these  vigils  were  kept  on  Sixth  day  night,  and 
the  meeting  on  the  following  day  was  upon  the  Sab- 
bith.  It  can  not  mean  the  evening  after  the  Sab- 
bath, for  at  sunset  the  Sabbath  closed. 

Again  Sozomen  says: 

•*  Likewise  some  meet  both  upon  the  Sabbath  and 
upon  the  day  after  the  Sabbath,  as  at  Constantino 
pie,  and  among  almost  all  others.  At  Rome  and 
Alexandria  they  do  not.  Among  the  Egyptians, 
likewise,  in  many  cities  and  villages,  there  is  also  a 
sacred  custom  among  all  of  meeting  on  the  evening 
after  the  Sabbath,  when  the  sacred  mysteries  are 
partaken  of."f 

The  reader  will  readily  see  why  the  Sabbath  was 
not  ob.served  at  Rome  and  Alexandria.  Sozouien 
wrote  nearly  one  hundred  an  I  fifty  3^ears  after  the 
passage  of  the  first  "  Sunday  Law  "  by  Constantine, 
and  the  subsequent  enactments  against  the  Sabbath. 

Thus  men  living  in  the  fifth  century,  aud  having 
access  to  all  the  existing  material,  bear  testimony 
to  the  fact  that  it  was  the  almost  universal  custom 
of  the  church  at  that  time,  to  observe  the  Sabbath. 


*  Liber  7i  chap.  18.  t  Liber  7,  chap.  19. 


SAB>$ATI1     AND    ST XI) AY.  129 

Corresponding  with  tliib  is  Ibe  testimony  of  modern 
writers. 

Lyman  Coleman,  says: 

"  The  observance  of  the  Lord's  day,  as  the  first  day 
of  the  week,  teas  at  first  introduced  as  a  separate  in- 
stitution. Both  this  and  the  Jewish  Sabbaih.  were 
kept  for  some  time;  finally,  the  latter  passed  wholly 
over  into  the  former,  which  now^  took  the  place  of 
the  ancient  Sabbath  of  the  Israelites.  But  their 
Sabbath,  the  last  day  of  the  week,  was  strictly  kept, 
in  connection  with  that  of  the  first  day,  for  a  long 
time  after  the  overthrow  of  the  temple  and  its  wor- 
ship. Down  even  to  the  fifth  century,  the_^  observ- 
ance of  the  Jewish  Sabbath  was  continued  in  the 
Christian  church,  but  with  a  rigor  and  solemnity 
eradually  diminishing;  until  it  was  wholly  discon- 
tinued .  .  .  Both  were  observed  in  the  Christian 
church  down  to  the  fifth  century,  with  this  ditter- 
ence,  that  in  the  Eastern  church  both  days  were  re- 
garded as  joyful  occasions;  but  in  the  Western,  the 
Jewish  Sabbath  was  kept  as  a  fast."* 

Heylyn,  after  giving  the  words  of  Ambrose,  that 
he  fasted  when  at  Rome  on  the  Sabbath,  and  when 
away  from  Rome  did  not,  adds: 

"Nav.  which  is  more,  St.  Augustine  tells  us,  that 
many  times  in  Africa,  one  and  the  self  same  church, 
at  least  the  several  churches  in  the  self -same  prov 
ince,  had  some  that  dined  upon  the  Sabbath  and 
some  that  fasted  And  in  this  difference  it  stood  a 
long  time  together,  till,  in  the  end,  the  Roman 
church  obtained  the  cause,  and  Saturday  became  a 
fast,  almost  through  all  parts  of  the  Western  world; 
and  of  that  alone;  the  Eastern  churches  being  so 
far  from  altering  their  gjicient  custom,  that,  m  tne 

t  Ancient  Christianity  Exemplified,  chap.  26,  sec.  2. 

(9) 


130  SABBATH    AND  SUNDAY. 

sixth  Council  of  Constantinople,  Anno,  692,  they 
did  admonish  those  of  Rome  to  forbear  fasting  on 
that  day,  upon  pain  of  censure."* 

King  says: 

"For  the  Eastern  churches,  in  compliance  with 
the  Jewish  converts,  who  were  numerous  in  those 
parts,  pel  formed  on  the  seventh  day  the  same  pub- 
lic religious  services  that  they  did  on  the  first  day, 
observing  both  the  one  and  the  other,  as  a  festival. 
Whence  Origen  enumerates  Saturday  as  one  of  the 
four  feasts  solemnized  in  his  time,  though,  on  the 
conU  ary,  so?ne  of  the  Western  churches,  that  they 
might  not  seem  to  Judaize,  fasted  on  Saturday.  Bo 
that,  besides  the  Lord's-day,  Saturday  was  an  usual 
season  whereon  many  churches  solemnized  their  re- 
ligious services."! 

An  old  w^ork  on  the  "Morality  of  the  Fourth 
Commandment,"  by  William  Twisse,  D.  D.,  has 
the  following: 

"Yet,  for  some  hundred  years  in  the  primitive 
church,  not  the  Lords-day  only,  but  the  seventh 
day  also,  was  religiously  observed,  not  by  Ebion 
and  Cerinthus  only^  but  by  pious  Christians  also,  as 
Baronius  writeth,  and  Gomarus  confesseth,  and 
Riveri  also.":}: 

"  A  Learned  Treatise  of  the  Sabbath  "  by  Edward 
Brerewood,  Professor  in  Gresham  College,  London, 
has  the  following: 

"  And  especially  because  it  is  certain  (and  little  do 
you  know  of  the  ancient  condition  of  the  church  if 
you  know  it  not,)  that  the  ancient  Sabbath  did  re- 

*  Hisfory  of  the  Sabbath,  part  2,  chap.  2,  sec.  3. 

t"  Primitive  Church,"  first  published  1691,  pp.  126,  127. 

tP.  9,  London,  1641. 


SABBATH     AND    SUNDAY.  131 

main  and  was  observed  (togetber  with  the  celebra- 
tUm  of  tbe  Lord's-day,)  by  the  Christians  of  the  East 
Churcb,  above  three  hundred  years  after  our  Sa- 
viour's death."* 

The  learned  Joseph  Bingham,  says: 

"  We  also  find  in  ancient  writers  frequeut  men 
tion  made  of  religious  assemblies  on  the  Saturday, 
or  seventh  day  of  the  week,  which  was  the  Jewish 
Sibbath.  It  is  not  easy  to  ttll  the  original  of  this 
practice,  nor  the  reast<ns  of  it,  because  the  writers 
of  the  tirst  ages  are  altogether  silent  about  it.  In 
the  Latin  cburches,  (excepting  jVlilan,)  it  was  kept 
as  a  fast;  but  in  all  the  Greek  churches,  as  a  festival; 
I  consider  it  here  only  as  a  day  of  public  divine  ser- 
vice. .  .  .  Athanasius,  who  is  one  of  the  tirst  that 
mentions  it,  says:  They  met  on  the  Sabbath,  not 
that  they  were  infecttd  wiih  Judaism,  but  to  wor- 
sliip  Jesus,  the  Lord  of  the  Sabbath.  And  Timo- 
theiis,  one  of  his  J:Uccessor!s  in  ihe  See  of  Alexandria, 
says,  the  comumnion  was  administered  on  this  day. 
.  .  .  Socra  es  is  a  little  more  particular  about  the 
service;  for  he  says:  In  their  assemblies  on  this  day 
tliey  celebrate  the  communion;  only  the  churches 
of  iiigypt  and  Thebias  differed  in  this  from  the  rest 
of  the  world,  and  even  from  their  neighbors  at  Al- 
exandria, that  they  had  the  commui/ion  at  evening 
service.  In  another  place,  speaking  of  the  churches 
of  Constantinople,  in  the  time  of  Chrysostom,  he 
reckons  Saturday  and  Lord's-day,  the  two  great 
weekly  festivals,  on  which  they  always  held  church 
assemblies.  And  Cassian  takes  notice  of  the  Egyp- 
tian churches  that  among  them  the  service  of  Ihe 
Lord's  day  and  the  Sabbath,  was  always  the  same; 
for  they  had  the  lessons  then  read  out  of  the  New 
Te.'-tanienl,  only  ore  out  of  the  Gospels;  and  the 
otiu  r  out  of  the  Epistles  or  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles; 

*P.  77,  London,  1630.  .    .. 


132  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

■wLeiriis,  on  olhtr  days  Ihcy  bad  lL(m  part]}  out  of 
the  Old  Testament,  and  partly  out  of  the  Kew.  In 
another  place  Le  observes  that  in  the  monasteries  of 
Egypt  and  Thebias,  they  had  no  public  assemblies 
on  other  daj  s,  besides  morning  and  evening,  except 
upon  Saturday  ard  the  Lord's-day,  when  they  met 
at  (three  o'clock,)  that  is  nine  in  the  morning,  to 
celebrate  the  Communion."* 

William  Cave,  D.  D.,  in  a  work  entitled  Primi- 
tive Ghnstianity  testifies  as  follows: 

"The  Sabbath,  or  Saturday,  for  so  the  word  Sah- 
hatum  is  constantly  used  in  the  writings  of  the  fa- 
thers when  speaking  of  it  as  it  relates  to  Christians, 
was  held  by  them  in  great  veneration,  and  especially 
in  the  Eastern  parts,  honored  with  all  the  public 
solemnities  of  religion.  For  which  we  are  to  know, 
that  the  Gospel  in  those  parts  mainly  prevailing 
amongst  the  Jews,  they  being  generally  the  firsl 
converts  to  the  Christian  faith,  they  still  retained  a 
mighty  reverence  for  the  Mosaic  in.-titutions,  and 
especially  for  the  Sabbath,  as  that  which  had  been 
appointed  by  God  himself  as  a  memorial  of  his  rest 
from  the  w^oik  of  creation,  settled  by  their  great 
master  Moses,  and  celebrated  by  their  ancestors  for 
so  many  ages  as  the  solemn  day'^of  their  public  wor- 
ship, and  were  therefore  very  loth  that  it  should  be 
wholly  anti  uated  and  laid  aside.  .  .  .  Hence  they 
usually  had  most  parts  of  divine  service  performed 
upon  that  day;  they  met  together  for  public  pra}  ers, 
for  reading  the  Scriptures,  celebration  of  the  Sacra- 
ments, and  such  like  duties.  This  is  plain,  net  only 
from  some  passages  in  Ignatius,  and  Clement's  Con- 
stitutions, but  from  writers  of  more  unquestionable 
credit  and  authority.  Athanasius,  bishop  of  Alex- 
andria tells  us  that  they  assemble  on  Saturdays,  not 

*  Antiquities  of  the  Christian  Church,  Book  13,  chap.  9, 
sec  3. 


SABBATH    AIsD    SUJN'DAY.  138 

that  they  were  infected  with  Judaism,  but  only  to 
worship  Jesus  Christ,  the  Lord  of  the  Sabbata;  and 
Socrates,  speaking  of  the  usual  times  of  their  public 
meeting,  calls  the  Sabbath  and  the  Lord's-day,  the 
weekly  festivals  on  which  the  congregation  was 
woDt  to  meet  in  the  church  for  the  performance  of 
divine  services.  Therefore  the  council  of  Laodicea 
amongst  other  things  decreed,*  that  upon  Saturdays 
the  gospels  and  other  scriptures  should  be  read. 
Upon  this  day  also,  as  well  as  upon  Sunday,  all  fasts 
were  severely  prohibited,  (an  infallible  argument 
they  counted  it  a  festival  day)  one  Saturday  in  the 
year  only  excepted,  viz.:  ihat  before  chaster  day, 
which  was  always  observed  as  a  solemn  fast;  things 
so  commonly  known  as  to  need  no  proof.  .  .  .  Thus 
stood  the  case  in  the  Eastern  church;  in  those  in  the 
West  we  dnd  it  somewhat  different.  Amongst  them 
it  was  not  observed  as  a  religious  festival,  but  kept 
as  a  constant  fast.  The  reason  whereof,  (as  it  is 
given  by  Pope  Innocent,  in  an  epistle  to  the  Bishop 
Eugubium,  where  he  treats  of  this  very  case,)  seems 
most  probable.  *If  [says  he)  we  commemorate 
Christ's  resurrection,  not  only  at  Easter,  but  every 
Lord's  day,  and  fast  upon  Friday,  because  it  was 
the  day  of  his  passion,  we  ought  not  to  pass  by  Sat- 
urday, which  is  the  middle  time  between  the  days 
of  grief  and  joy;  the  apostles  themselves  spending 
those  two  days,  viz.:  Friday  and  the  Sabbath,  in 
great  sorrow  and  heaviness;  and  he  thinks  no  doubt 
ought  to  be  made,  but  that  the  apostles  fasted  upon 
those  two  days;  whence  the  church  had  a  tradition, 
that  the  sacraments  were  not  to  be  administered  on 
those  days,  and  therefore  concludes  tha  every  Sat- 
urday, or  Sabbath,  ought  to  be  kept  a  fast.  To  the 
same  purpose  the  council  of  Illiberis  ordained  that 
a  Saturday  festival  was  an  error  that  ouuht  to  be  re- 
formed, and  that  men  ought  to  fast   on  every  S:.b- 

*  Can.  16. 


134  SAFiBATII    A XI)    SUNDAY. 

bath.  But,  though  this  seems  to  have  been  the  gen- 
eral practice,  yet  it  did  not  obtain  in  all  places  of 
the  West  alike.  In  Italy  itself,  i"  waf-  otherwise  at 
Milan,  where  Saturday  was  a  festival;  and  it  i.*-  said 
in  the  life  df  Saint  Ambrose,  who  was  bishop  of 
that  See,  that  he  constanrjy  dined  as  well  upon 
Saturday  as  upon  the  Lord's-aay,  and  used  also  up 
on  that  day  to  preach  to  the  people."* 

Dr   Charles  Hase  says: 

"The  Roman  church  regarded  Saturday  as  a  fast 
day  in  direct  opposition  to  those  who  regarded  it  as 
a  Sabbath."! 

Rev.  James  Cragie  Robertson,  states  that: 

"  In  memory  of  our  Lurd's  betrayal  and  crucifix- 
ion the  fourth  and  sixth  days  of  each  week  were 
K  ept  as  fasts,  by  abstaining  from  food  until  the  hour 
at  which  he  gave  up  the  Ghost,  the  ninth  hour,  or 
3  P.  M.  In  the  manner  of  observing  the  seventh 
day  the  Eastern  church  differed  from  the  Western. 
The  Orientals,  influenced  bj^  the  neighborhood  of 
the  Jews,  and  by  the  ideas  of  Jewish  converts,  re 
garded  it  as  a  continuation  of  the  Mosaic  Sabbath, 
and  celebrated  it  almost  in  the  same  manner  as  the 
Lord's-day;  while  th.ir  brethren  in  the  west — al 
though  noi  until  after  the  time  of  Tertullian,  ex- 
tended to  it  the  fast  of  the  preceding  day.  "t 

Rev.  Philip  Schaff  bears  the  following  testimony. 

"  The  observance  of  the  Sabbath  among  the  Jew- 
ish Christians,  gradually  ceased.  Yet  the  Eastern 
churcii  to  this  day  marks  the  seventh  day  of  the 
week,  (excepting  only  the  Easter  Sabbath.)  by  omit- 

*  P.  83,  Oxford,  1840. 
1  History  of  the  Christian  Church,  p  67,    parajrraph  fif). 
New  York,  1855. 

t  History  of  the  Church,  p.  1.58,  London.  1854. 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  lo5 

ing  fasting,  and  bj-  standini;  in  prayer;  while  the 
Latin  church,  in  direct  opposition  to  Judaism,  made 
Saturday  a  fast  day.  The  controversy  on  this  poiat 
began  as  early  as  the  end  of  the  second  century. 
Wednesday,  and  especially  Friday,  were  devoted  to 
the  weekly  commemoration  of  the  sufferings  and 
death  of  the  Lord,  and  observed  as  days  of  penance, 
or  watch  days,  with  worship  and  half  fasting,  till 
three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon."* 

Neander  recognizes  the  observance  of  the  Sabbath 
by  the  church  in  general,  during  the  first  three  cen- 
turies: 

"  In  the  Western  churches,  particularly  the  Ro- 
man, where  '*pposition  to  Judaism  was  the  prevail- 
ing teadency,  this  very  opposition  produced  the  cus 
torn  of  celebrating  the  Saturday  in  particular  as  a 
fast  day.  This  difference  in  customs  would  of  course 
be  striking  where  members  of  the  Oriental  church 
spent  their  Sabbath-day  in  the  Western  church,  "f 

Gieseler  be-irs  the  following  testimony: 

"  While  the  Christians  of  Palestine,  who  kept  the 
whole  Jewish  law,  celebrated  of  course  all  the  Jew- 
ish festivals,  the  heathen  converts  observed  only  the 
Sabbath,  and,  in  remembrance  of  the  closing  scenes 
of  our  Saviour's  life,  the  Passover,  though  without 
the  Jewish  superstitions.  Besides  these,  the  Sunday, 
as  the  day  of  our  Saviour's  resurrection,  was  devoted 
to  religi  )us  worship.":}: 

If  this  be  carefully  studied,  two  impfitant  facts 

*  History  of  tlie  Christian  Church,  p.  372,  New  York  and 
Edinburg,  1H64.  ^        ,     ^     •      *v. 

t  History  of  the  Christian  religion  and  Church,  during  the 
first three'centuries,  p.  186,  Rose's  translation.  Nearly  the 
same  language  is  used  in  his  general  history,  Vol.  1,  p.  298, 
Torrey's  translation. 

t  Church  History.  Apostolic  age  to  A.  D.  70,  sec,  29. 


136  SABBATH     AND    SUNDAY. 

will  appear.  1.  There  is  no  iudefiniteness  in  the 
statement  concerning  the  fact  that  all  Christians 
kept  the  Sabbath.  2.  With  reference  to  the  keep- 
ing of  the  Sunday,  Gieseler  gives  the  passages  upon 
which  such  an  idea  is  founded,  thus  throwing  upon 
the  reader  the  responsibility  of  deciding  for  himself 
whether  the  evidence  is  sufficient  to  support  the 
claim.  It  is  a  significant  fact  that  the  learned  his- 
torian does  not  commit  himself  to  the  popular  theo- 
ry, but  leaves  each  to  judge  for  himself.  We  ask 
the  reader  to  refer  the  question  to  the  New  Testa- 
ment, and  to  abide  by  its  decision. 
/  Thus  appears  an  unbroken  chain  of  evidence 
showing  that  the  Sabbath  was  generally  observed  by 
the  Christian  church  as  late  as  the  fourth  century. 
The  Western  church  had  by  this  lime  come  to  re- 
gard it  as  a  fast,  and  its  true  character  had  been 
largely  set  aside.  The  Eastern  church  less  corrupt- 
ed by  Romish  influence,  observed  it  more  nearly  in 
the  true  Christian  spirit,  and  without  extreme 
Pharisaic  rigidity.  With  such  facts  within  the  reach 
of  every  careful  student  of  history,  it  is  difficult  to 
understand  how  so  many  men  can  venture  to  assert 
that  the  Sabbath  was  not  observed  by  Christians 
after  the  time  of  Christ.  Bear  in  mind  too  that  the 
foregoing  evidence  is,  mainly,  concerning  the  West- 
ern branch  of  the  church,  which  was  much  more 
corrupted  b}'"  the  Sunday  influences  than  the  East- 
ern; and  that  the  writers  referred  to  in  this  chapter 
all  wrote  after  the  rupture  between  the  Jewish 
and  the  Pagan  elements  in  the  church,  at  the  open- 


SABBATH   AXD    SUNDAY.  187 

ing  of  the  second  century.  Any  effort  to  deny  the 
fact  that  the  Sabbath  remained  in  the  entire  church 
until  the  fourth  century,  and  later,  is  a  perversion 
of  history.  The  only  essential  modification  in  the 
character  of  iis  observance  was  a  justifiable  laying 
aside  of  Pharisaic  formalism,  and  the  changing  it  in- 
to Ok  fast  in  the  Western  church.  We  shall  present 
hereafter  evidence  that  the  Sabbath  continued  to  be 
observed  for  a  century  or  two  after  the  changes 
which  were  inaugurated  by  the  civil  legislation  of 
Constantine,  which  is  to  be  considered  in  the  next 
chapter. 


p 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

ONSTANTINE     AND     THE     BEGIN- 
NING   OF    Legislation. 

The  fourll)  century  opens  a  new  era  in  the  history 
of  the  Church,  and  of  the  Sabbath  question.  In  the 
West,  through  a  union  of  Church  and  State,  the 
disastrous  work  of  civil  legishition  concerning  re- 
ligion begins.  Constantine  the  Great  is  the  repre 
semative  man  during  the  first  quarter  ol  the  century. 
At  the  death  of  his  father  in  the  year  306,  he  be 
came  an  associate  ruler  in  the  Roman  Empire,  and 
gained  full  power  in  the  year  323,  He  died  at  Con- 
stantinople, A.  D.  337.  Constantine  first  began  to 
favor  Christianity  as  an  element  of  social  and  politi- 
cal power.  He  shrewdly  seized  upon  it  as  the  most 
vigorous  element  in  the  decaying  Empire.  He 
neither  appreciated  nor  loved  the  truth  for  its  own 
sake.  A  modern  historian  speaks  of  him  in  these 
words: 

"He  reasoned,  as  Eusebius  reports  from  his  own 
mouth,  in  the  following  manner:  'My  father  served 
the  Chrii-tians  '  God,  and  uniformly  prospered,  while 
the  emperors  who  worshiped  the  heathen  gods,  died 
A  miserable  death;  therefore,  thnt  I  may  enjoy  a 
happy  life  and  reign,  I  will  imitate  the  example  of 
my  father  and  join  myself  to  the  cause  of  the  Chris 
tians  whf;  are  growing  daily,  wliile  tlie  heathen    ure 


SABBATH     AND    SUNDAY.  139 

diminishing '  Tliis  low  utilitarian  coosideration 
weighed  heavily  in  the  mind  of  an  ambitions  cap- 
tain, who  looked  forward  to  the  highest  seat  of  pow 
er  within  the  gift  of  his  age."* 

Dr.  Schaff  says  again: 

"  He  was  distinguished  by  that  genuine  political 
wisdom,  which,  putting  itself  at  ihe  head  of  the  age, 
clearly  saw  that  idolatry  had  outlived  itself  in  the 
Roman  Empire,  and  that  Christianity  alone  could 
breathe  new  vigor  into  it,  and  furnish  it  moral  sup- 
port. 

"  But  with  the  political,  he  united  also  a  religiouis 
motive,  not  char  and  deep  indeed,  yet  honest,  and 
strongly  infused  with  the  superstitious  disposition! 
to  judge  a  religion  by  its  outward  success,  and  toj 
ascribe  a  magical  virtue  to  signs  and  ceremonies.) 
.  .  .  Constantine  first  adopted  Christianity  as  a 
superstition,  and  put  it  by  the  side  of  his  heathen 
superstition,  till,  finally,  in  his  conviction,  the  Chris 
tian  vanquished  the  Pagan,  though  without  itself 
developing  into  a  pure  and  enligtitened  faith.  At 
first,  Constantine,  like  his  father,  in  the  spirit  of  the 
Neo-Platonic  syncretism  of  dying  heathendom,  rev- 
erenced all  the  gods  as  mysterious  powers;  esi)eclally 
Apollo,  the  god  of  the  .^un,  to  whom,  in  the  year 
308,  he  presented  munifi(;ent  gifts.  Nay,  so  late  as 
the  year  321,  he  enjoined  regular  consultations  of 
the  soothsayers  in  public  misfortunes,  according  to 
ancient  heathen  usage;  eren  later,  he  placed  his  new 
residence,  Byzantium,  under  the  protection  of  the 
god  of  Martyrs,  and  thehea'hen  goddess  or"  Fonune, 
and  down  to  the  end  of  his  life,  he  retained  the  title 
and  dignity  of  pontifex  maximns,  or  high  priest  of 
the  heathen  hierarchy.  .  .  .  With  his  every  victory 
over  his  Pagan  rivals,  Galerius,  Maxentius,  and 
Licinius,    his  personal   leaning  to  Christianity,  and 

*  Philip  Schaff,  Church  History,  Vol.  2,  p.  19. 


140  SABBATH     AXD    SUNDAY. 

his  confidence  in  the  magic  power  of  the  cross  in- 
creased; yet  he  did  not  formally  renounce  heathen- 
ism, and  did  not  receive  baptism,  until,  in  337,  he 
was  laid  upon  the  bed  of  death,  .  .  .  He  was  far 
from  being  so  pure  and  so  venerable  as  Eusebius, 
blinded  by  his  favor  of  the  Church,  depicts  him  in 
his  bombastic  and  almost  dishonestly  eulogistic 
biography,  with  the  evident  intention  of  setting  him 
up  as  a  model  for  all  future  Christian  princes.  It 
must  with  all  regret  be  conceded,  that  his  progress 
in  the  knowledge  of  Christianity  was  not  a  progress 
in  the  practice  of  its  virtues.  His  love  of  display 
and  his  prodigality,  his  suspiciousness  and  his  des- 
potism, increased  with  his  power.  The  very  bright- 
est period  of  his  reign  is  stained  with  gross  crimes, 
which  even  the  spirit  of  the  age,  and  the  policy  of  an 
absolute  monarch,  can  not  excuse.  After  having 
reached,  upon  the  bloody  path  of  war,  the  goal  of 
his  ambition,  the  sole  possession  of  the  Empire;  yea, 
in  the  very  year  in  which  he  summoned  the  great 
council  of  Nicaea,  he  ordered  the  execution  of  his 
conquered  rival  and  brother  in  law,  Liciniu?,  in 
breach  of  solemn  promise  of  mercy.  (324.)  Not 
satisfied  with  this,  he  caused,  soon  afterward,  on 
political  suspicion,  the  death  of  the  young  Licinius, 
his  nephew,  a  boy  of  hardly  eleven  years.  But  the 
worst  of  all  is  the  murder  of  his  eldest  son,  Cris- 
pus,  in  326,  who  had  incurred  suspicion  of  political 
conspiracy,  and  of  adulterous  and  incestuous  pur 
poses  toward  his  step  mother,  Fausta,  but  is  gecerally 
regarded  as  InnoceLt. 

"  At  all  events,  Christianity  did  not  produce  in 
Constant  ine  a  thorough  moral  iransformation.  He 
was  concerned  more  to  advance  the  outward  social 
position  of  the  Christian  religion,  than  to  further  its 
inward  niission.  He  was  praised  and  ctnsuredin 
turn  by  the  Christians  and  Pagans,  the  Orlhodox 
and  the  Aritins,  as  they  succLS-ively  experienced  his 
favor  or  dislike.  .  .  .  When,  at  last,  on  his  death 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  141 

bed  he  submitted  to  baptism,  with  the  remark, 
'Now  let  us  cast  away  all  duplicity,'  he  honestly  ad- 
mitted the  conflict  of  two  antagonistic  principles 
which  swayed  his  private  character  and  public  life."* 

Uhlhorn  says  of  him: 

"  At  the  beginning  of  A.  D.  312,  beseemed,  to  say 
the  least,  cool  and  non-committal.  He  had  issued 
the  edict  of  Galerius,  and  the  orders  concerning  its 
execution  which,  as  we  have  seen,  were  but  little 
favorable  to  Christianity.  He  was  no  doubt  even 
then  a  Monotheist;  but  the  one  God  whom  he  wor- 
shiped was  rather  the  sun  god,  the  '  Unconquered 
Sun  '  than  the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  But 
at  the  beginning  of  A.  D.  313  he  issued  the  edict  of 
Milan,  which  was  extraordinarily  favorable  to  the 
Christians,  and  took  the  first  decisive  steps  towards 
raising  Christianity  to  the  position  of  a  dominant  re- 
ligion."! 

Knowing  thus  the  character  and  antecedents  of 
the  man,  the  reader  is  better  prepared  to  judge  con- 
cerning the  motives  which  led  to  the  passage  of  his 
"  Sunday  Edict. "  the  first  act  of  legislation  which 
directly  affected  the  Sabbath  question.  The  edict 
runs  as  follows: 

"  Omnes  Judices  urbanaeque  plebes.  et  cunctarum 
artium  oflicia  veoerabili  die  Solis  quiescant.  Ruri 
tamen  positi  Agrorum  cultura?  liber  licenterque  in- 
servif.nt:  quoniam  frequenter  evenit,  ut  non  aptius 
alio  die  frumenta  sulcis,  aut  vineae  scrobibus  man 
dentur,  ne  occasione  momenti  pereat  commoditus 
coelesti  provisione  concessa." 

"  Let  all  judges,  and  all  city  people,  and  all  trades- 
men, rest  upon  the   vemrahle  day  of  the  Sun.     But 

*  Church  History,  Vol.  2,  p.  13. 
+  Conflict  Between  Heathenism  and  Christianity,  p.  427. 


142  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

let  those  dwelling  in  the  country  freely  and  with 
full  liberty  attend  to  the  culture  of  their  fields;  since 
it  frequently  happens,  that  no  other  day  is  so  fit  for 
the  sowing  of  grain,  or  the  planting  of  vines;  hence 
the  fa  vera  lie  time  should  not  be  allowed  to  pass, 
lest  the  provisions  of  heaven  be  lost.'* 

This  was  issLcd  on  the  seventh  of  March,  A.  D. 
331.  In  June  of  the  same  year  it  was  modified  so 
as  to  allow  the  manumission  of  slaves  on  the  Sunday. 
The  reader  will  notice  that  this  edict  makes  no  ref- 
erence to  the  day  as  a  Sabbath,  as  the  Lord's-day, 
or  as  in  any  way  connected  with  Christianity. 
Neither  is  it  an  edict  addressed  to  Christians.  Nor 
is  the  idea  of  any  moral  obligition  or  Christian  duty 
found  in  it.  It  is  merely  the  edict  of  a  heathen 
emperor,  addressed  to  all  his  subjects,  Christian  and 
heahen,  who  dwelt  in  cities,  and  were  tradesmen, 
or  officers  of  justice,  to  refrain  from  their  business 
on  the  "venerable  day"  of  the  god  whom  he  most 
adored,  and  to  whom  he  loved  in  his  pride  to  be 
compared.  There  are  three  distinct  lines  of  argu- 
ment which  prove  that  this  edict  was  a  Pagan,  rath- 
er than  a  Christian  document, 

1.  The  language  us«d.  It  speaks  of  the  day  only 
as  the  "venerable  day  of  the  Sun,'  a  title  purely 
heathen.  It  does  not  even  hint  at  any  connection 
betweea  the  day  and  Christianity,  or  the  practices  of 
Christians. 

2.  Similar  laws  concerning  many  other  htathen 
festivals  were  common      Joseph  Bingham  bears  the 

*  Cod.  Justin.  III.    Tit.  12,  L.  3. 


SABBATH     AND    SUNDAY.  143 

following  testimony,  when  speaking  of  the  edict  un 
der  consideration: 

"  This  was  the  same  respect  as  the  old  Roman 
laws  had  paid  to  their  ferm,  or  festivals,  in  times  of 
idolatry  and  superstition.  .  .  ,  Now,  as  the  old  Ro- 
man laws  exempted  the  festivals  of  the  heathen  from 
all  judicial  business,  and  suspended  all  proce-ses  and 
pleadings,  except  in  the  fore-mentioned  cases,  so 
Constantine  ordered  that  the  same  respect  should  he 
paid  to  the  Lord  s  day,  that  it  should  be  a  day  of 
perfect  vacation  from  all  prosecutions,  and  plead- 
ings, and  business  of  the  law,  except  where  any  case 
of  great  necessity  or  charity  required  a  juridical 
process  and  public  tram  action."* 

Bingham  states  here  clearly  the  fact,  that  such: 
prohibitions  were  made  by  the  Roman  laws  in  favor 
of  their  festivals,  but  adds,  incorrectly,   that  Con- 
stantine made  the  same  in  favor  of  the  Lord's-day;j 
for  we  have  seen  that  it  was  not  the  Lord's  day,  but! 
the  '•  venerable  day  of  the  Sun,"  which  the  edict  men-  \ 
tions;  and  it  is  impossible  to  suppose  that  a  law,  i 
made  by  a  Christian  prince,  in  favor  of  a  Christian 
institution,  should  not  in  any  way  mention  that  in 
stitution,  (T  hint  that  the  law  was  designed  to  apply 
to  it. 

Millman  corroborates  this  idea  as  follows: 

"  The  earlier  laws  of  Constantine,  though  in  their 
effect  favorable  to  Christianity,  claimed  some  defer- 
ence, as  it  were,  to  the  ancient  religion,  in  tlie  am- 
biguity of  tdeir  language,  and  the  cautious  terms  in 
which  they  interfered  with  Paganism.  The  re- 
script commanding  the  celebration  of  the   Christum 

*  Antiquities  of  the  Christian  Church,  Book  20.  chap.  2, 
seo.  S. 


144  SABBATH     AJvD    SUNDAY. 

Sabbath,  bears  no  allusion  to  its  peculiar  sanctity  as 
a  Christian  institution.  It  is  the  day  of  the  sun 
which  is  to  be  observed  by  the  general  veneration: 
the  courts  were  to  be  closed,  and  the  noise  and  tu- 
mult of  public  business  and  legal  litigation  were  no 
longer  to  violate  the  repose  of  the  sacred  day.  But 
the  believer  in  the  new  Paganism,  of  which  the  solar 
worship  was  the  characteristic,  might  acquiesce  with- 
out scruple,  in  the  sanctity  of  the  first  day  of  the 
week."* 
In  chapter  four  of  the  same  book  Millman  says: 

"The  rescript,  indeed,  for  the  religious  observ- 
ance of  the  Sunday,  which  enjoined  the  suspension 
of  all  public  business  and  private  labor,  except  that 
of  agriculture,  was  enacted,  according  to  the  appar 
ent  terms  of  the  decree,  for  the  whole  Roman  Em- 
pire Yet,  unless  we  had  direct  proof  that  the  decree 
set  forth  the  Christian  reason  for  the  sanctity  of  the 
day,  it  may  be  doubted  whether  the  act  would  not 
be  received  by  the  greater  part  of  the  empire  as 
merely  adding  one  more  feHtival  to  the  fasti  of  the 
empire,  as  proceeding  entirely  from  the  will  of  the 
emperor,  or  even  grounded  on  his  authority  as  su- 
preme pontiff,  by  which  he  had  the  plenary  power 
of  appointing  holy  days.  In  fact,  as  we  have  before 
observed,  the  day  of  the  sun  would  be  willingly  hal- 
lowed by  almost  all  the  Pagan  world,  especially 
that  part  which  had  admitted  any  tendency  toward 
the  oriental  theology." 

Stronger  still  is  the  testimony  of  an  English  Bar- 
rister, Edward  V.  Neale.     These  are  his  words: 

"  That  the  division  of  days  into  juridici,  et  feri- 
ati,  judicial  and  nonju(iicial.  did  not  arise  out  of  the 
modes  of  thought  peculiar  to  the  Christian  world 
must  be  known  to  every  classical  scholar.     Before 

*  History  of  Christianity,  Book  3,  chap.  1. 


SABBATH     ANJ)     SUNDAY.  145 

the  a^e  of  Augustus,  the  number  of  days  upon  which, 
out  of  reverence  to  the  gods  to  whom  they  were 
consecrated,  no  trials  could  take  place  at  Rome,  had 
become  a  resource  upon  which  a  wealthy  criminal 
could  speculate  as  a  means  of  evading  justice;  and 
Suetonius  enumerates  among  the  praiseworthy  acts 
of  that  emperor,  the  cutting  off  Irom  the  cumber, 
thirty  days,  in  order  that  crime  might  not  go  un- 
punished nor  business  be  impeded."* 

After  enumerating  certain  kinds  of  business  which 
were  allowed  under  these  general  laws,  Mr.  Xeale 
adds,  '  •  Such  was  the  state  of  the  laws  with  respect 
to  judicial  proceedings,  while  the  empire  was  still 
heathen."  Concerning  the  suspension  of  labor,  we 
learn  from  the  same  author  that: 

"  The  practice  of  abstaining  from  various  sorts  of 
labor  upon  days  consecrated  by  religious  observance, 
like  that  of  suspending  at  sach  seasons  judicial  pro- 
ceedings, was  familiar  to  the  Roman  world  before 
the  introduction  of  Christian  ideas.  Virgil  enumer- 
ates the  rural  labors,  which  might  on  festal  days  be 
carried  on,  without  entrenching  upon  the  prohibi- 
tions of  religion  and  right;  and  the  enumeration 
shows  that  many  works  were  considered  as  forbid- 
den. Thus  it  appears  that  it  was  permitted  to  clean 
out  the  channels  of  an  old  water  course,  but  not  to 
make  a  new  one;  to  wash  the  herd  or  flock,  if  such 
washing  was  needful  for  their  health,  but  not  other- 
wise; to  guard  the  crop  from  injury  by  setting  snares 
for  birds,  or  fencing  in  the  grain;  and  to  burn  un- 
produc  ive  thorns, "f 

These  facts  show  how  the  heathen  training  and  be- 
lief of  Constantine  give  birth  to  the  "  Sunday  edict." 

*  Feasts  and  Fasts,  p.  6. 
+  Feasts  and  Fasts,  p.  86.  et.  seq. 

(10) 


146  SABBATH     AND    SUNDAY. 

Tliat  lie  was  a  heal  hen  is  also  attested  by  the  fact 
that  the  edict  of  the  7th  of  March,  331,  in  favor  of 
Sunday,  was  followed  by  another  published  the 
next  day,  which  is  so  purely  heathen,  that  no  doubt 
can  be  entertained  as  to  the  character  of  the  man 
who  was  the  author  of  both  edicts.*  The  edict  of 
March  8th,  commanded  that  in  case  of  public  calam- 
ity, like  the  striking  of  the  imperial  palace  or  public 
buildings  by  lightning,  the  heathen  ceremoLies  for 
propitiating  the  gods  were  to  be  performed,  and  the 
meaning  of  the  calamity  should  be  sought  from  the 
haruspices.  The  haruspices  were  soothsa3'ers,  who 
gave  their  answers  from  watching  the  movements 
of  the  entrails  of  slain  beasts,  and  the  smoke  from 
burning  certain  portions.  This  was  a  proceeding 
purely  heathen,  and  no  Christian  prince  could  have 
made  such  a  law.  There  is  an  evident  connection 
between  the  two  edicts,  as  we  shall  see  when  we 
remember  that  Apollo,  who  was  honored  as  the  god 
of  the  sun,  was  the  patron  deity  of  these  soothsayers. 
He  was  also  the  patron  deiiy  of  Constantine,  and 
the  one  to  whom  he,  in  his  pride,  loved  to  be  com- 
pared. Thus  the  Sunday  edict,  from  its  ass*ociations 
as  well  as  its  language,  is  shown  to  be  the  emana- 
tion of  a  heathen,  and  not  a  Christian  religion.  Re- 
member, too.  that  at  least  nine  years  later  than  this, 
Con^tantice  placed  his  new  residence  at  Byzantium 
under  the  protection  of  tie  heathen  goddess  of  For- 
tune; that  he  never  gave  up   the  title  of  high  priest 

*  See  Rose's  Ind.  of  Dates,  p.  380,  Gibbon's  Decline   and 
Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire,  etc. 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  147 

of  the  heathen  religion,  that  he  did  not  formally 
embrace  Christianity,  and  sumhit  to  baptism  until 
he  lay  upon  his  death  bed,  sixteen  years  later;  and 
you  can  no*;  fail  to  see  that  whatever  he  did  to  favor 
Christianity,  and  whatever  claims  he  made  to  con- 
version, were  the  outgrowth  of  a  shrewd  policy, 
rather  than  of  a  converted  heart.  And  when  the 
imp  ati  d  historian  can  say  of  hiai,  "  The  very  bright- 
est period  of  his  reign  is  stained  with  ciimes,  which 
even  the  spirit  of  the  age,  and  the  policy  of  an  ab- 
solute monarch,  can  not  excuse,"*  we  can  not  well 
claim  him  as  a  ChvMiaii  prince. 

If  he  made  any  general  laws  against  hcithenism,  \ 
they  were  never  executed;  iov  it  was  not  su[)pressed 
in  the  empire  until  A.  1).  890 — seventy-nine  years 
after  his  Sunday  edict,  and  fifty-three  years  after  his 
death. f  The  few  abuses  against  which  he  enacted 
laws,  were  those  which  had  been  condemned  before 
by  the  laws  of  the  heathen  rulers  who  had  preceded 
him,  such  as  the  ol)scene  midnight  orgies,  etc. 
Millman  speaks  as  follows  on  this  point: 

''  If  it  be  dilfioult  todetermine  theextentto  which 
Con^tantiue  proceeded  in  theestabli-hmeul  of  Chris- 
tianity, it  is  even  more  perplexing  to  estimate  how  far 
he  exerted  the  imperial  authority  in  the  abotilion  of 
Paganism.  .  .  .  The  Pagan  writers,  who  are  not 
scrupulous  in  their  charges  ^.gainst  the  mi^piory  of 
Con-lantine,  and  dwell  with  bitter  resentment 
on  all  his  overt  acts  of  hostility  to  the  ancient  relig- 
ion, do  not  accuse  him  of  these  direct  ereroachments 

*  Schaff. 
t  See  Gibbon,  Vol.  3,  chap.  26,  Decline  and  Fall  of  Roman 
Empire. 


148  SAUIJATII    AND    SUNDAY. 

on  Paganism.  NcilLer  Julian  nor  Zosimus  lay  this 
to  his  charge  Libanius  distint-tlv  asseits  that  the 
temples  were  left  open  and  undisturbed  during  his 
reign,  and  that  Paganism  remained  unchanged. 
Though  Conslantine  advanced  many  Christians  to 
offices  of  trust,  and  no  doubt  many  who  were  ambi- 
tious of  such  offices  conformed  to  the  religion  of  the 
emperor,  probably  most  of  the  high  dignities  of  the 
State  were  held  by  the  Pagans,  ...  In  the  capitol 
there  can  be  but  little  doubt  that  sacrifices  were 
offered  in  the  name  of  the  senate  and  the  people  of 
Rome  till  a  much  later  period.'"* 

The  whole  matter  is  tersely  told  by  a  late  English 
writer,  who,  speaking  of  the  time  of  the  Sunday 
edict,  says: 

"At  a  later  period,  carried  away  by  the  current  of 
opinion,  he  declared  himself  a  convert  to  the  church. 
Christianity  then,  or  what  he  was  pleased  to  call  by 
that  name,  became  the  law  of  the  land,  and  the  edict 
of  A.  D.  321,  being  unrevoked,  was  enforced  as  a 
Christian  ordinance."! 

The  following  words  of  the  learned  Niebuhr,,  in 
his  lectures  on  Roman  history,  as  quoted  by  Stan- 
ley, aie  to  the  same  effect: 

"Many  judge  of  Constantine  by  too  severe  a  stand- 
ard, because  the}'^  regard  him  as  a  Christian;  but  I 
chu  not  look  at  him  in  that  light.  The  religion 
which  he  had  in  his  head,  must  have  been  a  strange 
jumble  Indeed.  .  .  .  He  was  a  superstitious  man, 
and  mixed  up  his  Christian  religion  with  all  kinds 
of  absurd  and  superstitious  opinions.  AVhen  certain 
oriental  w^riters  call  him  equal  to  the  apostles,  they 

*  Historical  C^ommentaries,  Book  4,  chap.  4. 
•'  Sunday  and  the  Jtosaic  Sabbath,  p.  4. 


SABBATH    A^D    SL'N^DAY.  149 

do  not  know  what  thev  are  saying;  and  to  speak  of 
him  as  a  saint  is  a  profanation  of  the  word."* 

It  is  a  curious  and  little  known  fact,  that  markets 
were  expressly  app(  inted  by  Constantine  to  be  held 
on  Sunday.  This  we  learn  from  an  inscription  on 
a  Slavonian  bath  rebuilt  by  him,  published  in  Grut- 
er'a  Inscnptioncs  Aritir/iia'  totitis  Orbis  Bomafu,CLiX.lY . 
2.  It  is  there  recorded  of  the  emperor,  that  "  pro- 
visione  pietatis  sua?  nundinas  dies  solis  perpeti  anno 
constituit;"  "by  a  pious  provision  he  appointed 
markets  to  be  held  on  Sunday  throughout  the  }  ear." 
His  pious  object  doubtless  was  to  promote  the  at 
tendance  of  the  country  people  at  churches  in  towns. 
"Thus,"  says  Charles  Julius  Hare,  "Constantine 
was  the  author  of  the  practice  of  holding  markets 
OD  Sunday,  which,  in  many  parts  of  Europe,  pre- 
vailed above  a  thousand  years  after,  though  Char 
leraagne  issued  a  special  law  (cap.  CXL,)  against 
it."f  In  "Scotland,  this  practice  was  first  forbid- 
den on  holy  days  by  an  Act  of  James  IV.,  in  1503, 
and  on  Sundays  in  particular  by  oce  of  James  VI., 
in  1579.  "t 

Before  dismissing  the  Constantinian  period,  it  is 
pertinent  to  notice  Eusebius,  the  church  historian, 
and  the  "dishonestly  eulogistic,"  biographer  of 
CoEstantine.  He  was  a  great  partisan,  and  sought 
by  all  means  to  induce  men  to  favor  and  honor  his 
patron,   the  emperor      As   a  commentator  on   the 

*  History  of  the  Eastern  Church,  p.  292. 

t    Philological  Museum,  i..  30, 

t  Robert  Cox,  Sabbath  Literature.  Vol.  1,  p.  359. 


150  SABBATH     AND    SUNDAY. 

SeripLures,  his  characteristic  tendency  to  make  uu- 
waiTaiitable  statements  is  clearly  seen.  Prof.  Moses 
Stuart  made  especial  effort  to  leproduce  the  ideas  of 
Conslautine  and  to  show  that  he  taught  the  "  puri 
tan"  theory  of  a  transfer  of  the  Sabbath  from  the 
seventh  to  the  first  day.  The  important  passages  in 
support  of  this  claim  are  from  Eusebius's  Com- 
mentary on  the  92d  Psalm.  The  Commentary 
abi'Uuds  in  unsupported  statements,  of  which  the 
following  is  the  key  note: 

•'And  all  thiuiis.  whatsoever  that  it  was  duty  to 
do  on  the  Sabbath,  these  we  have  transferred  to  the 
Lords  day,  as  more  appropriately  belonging  to  it, 
because  it  has  a  precedence  and  is  first  in  rank,  and 
more  honorable  than  the  Jewish  Sabbath.  For  on 
that  day,  in  making  the  world,  God  said,  Let  there 
be  light;  and  tliere  was  light;  and  on  the  same  day, 
the  Sua  of  righteousness  arose  upon  our  souls 
Therefore  it  is  delivered  to  us  that  we  should  meet 
together  on  this  day.  and  it  is  ordered  that  we  should 
do  those  things  announced  ia  this  Psalm." 

This  and  similar  passages  are  construed  to  mean 
that  Christ  gave  authority  for  such  a  transfer  of  the 
Sabbath.  But  the  reader  will  note  that  Eusebius 
says,  "  AVe  have  transferred."  etc.  The  question  is 
fairly  summed  up  in  the  following,  from  Cox: 

"  But  supposing  Eusebius  to  have  meant  that  our 
Lord,  by  an  express  command,  put  Sunday  in  the 
pUce  of  Saturday,  invested  it  with  all  the  authority 
which  the  Sabl)ath  had  possessed,  and  laid  upon  his 
folloA'ers  the  duty  of  observing  it  as  the  Jews  were 
required  to  observe  the  Sabbath— supposing  Eusebi 
us  to  say  all  this,  of  what  value  are  his  opinions  to 
us?    The  Scripture  is  our  rule,  as  it  was  also  his; 


SABBATH    AXL>     SUNDAY.  151 

anl  if  the  command  is  recorded  there,  or  by  g:ood 
and  necessaiy  consequence  may  be  deduced  there- 
from, smely  we  can  jDrotit  but  little  from  knowing 
that  a  bishop  in  th'-  fourth  ceutury  found  or  de- 
duced it,  as  every  intelligent  Christittn  may  on  the 
supposition  do.  If,  on  the  contrary,  it  is  not  in  the 
Bible,  or  to  be  well  and  necessarily  deduced  from 
anything  recorded  therein,  are  we  bound,  or  even  at 
liberty,  to  believe  an  assertion  made  for  the  tirst 
time  by  a  writer  in  the  fourth  century — a  writer,  too, 
that  was  obviously  under  a  strong  temptation  to 
recommend,  in  every  possible  way.  the  Sunday  Sab- 
bath of  Constantine  ta  the  Christians  of  his  time? 
When  Eusebius  declares  that  the  Sabbath  began 
with  Moses,  neither  his  thorough  researches  into  the 
usages  and  antiquities  of  the  Christian  church,  nor 
the  enlightenment  and  vigor  of  his  mind,  have 
the  smallest  effect  in  inducing  Mr.  Stuart,  or  any 
other  Sabbatarian,  to  disbelieve  ia  a  universal,  pri- 
meval Sabbath  law  and  its  recognition  by  the  early 
Gentile  Christians.  Are  not  all  men  equally  entitled 
to  reject  his  supp^vsed  interpretation  of  Scnpture  as 
to  the  transference  of  the  Sabbath  to  the  first  day  of 
the  week;  and  also  to  believe  that  when  he  finds  in 
certain  Psalm — allusions  to  and  prophecies  of  the 
Eucharist,  and  the  morniug  assemblies  of  Christians 
on  the  Lord's-day.  he  displays  a  puerile  fancy,  rather 
than  that  soundness  of  judgment  which  an  interpre- 
ter of  Scripture  stands  greatly  in  need  of?"* 

The  foregoing  testimony  relative  to  the  Sunday 
under  Constantine  is  given  thus  at  leng'h  in  order 
to  show  that  it  gained  supremacy  through  his  pagan 
legislation,  and  not  through  Christian  influence,  nor 
by  the  authority  of  the  Word  of  God.  The  adul- 
terous union  between  Christianity  and  heathenism, 

*  Sabbath  Literature,  Vol.  1  p.  304, 


152  SABBATH     AND     SUNDAY. 

thus  consummated  through  civil  legislation,  brought 
forth  the  Papacy.  Sunday  became  one  of  its  petted 
children.  One  word  describes  the  course  of  the 
"Church  "from  the  time  of  Constantine  along  the 
succeeding  centuries  until  history,  full  of  shame  and 
sadness,  hides  it  under  the  pall  of  the  dark  ages; 
that  word  is,  downward.  The  leading  features  of 
that  down-going  will  be  given  in  the  next  section. 

Before  dismissing  the  question  of  Cons  tan  tine's 
legislation,  it  is  pertinent  to  add  that  the  theory  of 
civil  legislation  in  religious  matters  is  wholly  op- 
posed to  the  spirit  of  the  Christianity  of  Christ  and 
the  Apostles.  Christ  taught  very  clearly:  "My 
kingdom  is  not  of  this  world."  Paganism  made  the 
emperor  PonUfex  yfaximus  in  matters  of  religion. 
Constantine  held  this  title  as  great  high  priest  of  the 
State  Paganism,  to  the  day  of  his  death.  When, 
therefore,  he  determined  to  adopt  Christianity  as  a 
State  religion,  he  naturally  assumed,  according  to 
his  Pagan  theories  that  he  was  the  head  of  the 
church,  and  was  at  liberty  to  legislate  as  he  would. 
The  Sunday  was  sacred  to  his  Patron  Deiry ;  the 
conquering,  and  unconquered  Sun.  It  was  also  the 
resurrection  festival  of  the  Christians,  held  in 
favor  because  it  was  2l  festive  day.  It  was  therefore 
a  stroke  of  political  sagacity,  quite  in  keeping  with 
Constantine's  character,  to  issue  the  edict  he  did. 
Pagan  in  its  terms  and  spirit,  and  yet  applicable  to 
all  parties  in  his  empire.  But  it  was  the  beginning 
of  weakness  and  ruin  in  the  history  of  the  church, 
and  its  relatiors  1o  ihe  civil  powir. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

•Sunday  From  THE  Time  of  Con- 

STANTINE    TO    THE     ClOSE    OF 

THE  Fourth    Century. 

In  tracing  the  history  of  Sunday  subsequent  to 
the  time  of  Constantine,  it  is  befitting,  first,  to  note  the 
theories  which  were  put  forth  by  representative 
ecclesiastical  writers,  and  second;  the  civil  laws 
which  were  modified  or  enacted  from  time  to  time. 

ATHANASIUS, 

who  died  373,  A.  D.,  left  very  little  wbich  bears  up- 
on the  question.  He  speaks  of  the  first  and  seventh 
days  as  not  being  "  fasts  "  even  in  the  time  of  Lent.* 
He  also  refers  to  the  fourth  day  of  the  week,  as  one 
on  which  Christians  usually  assembled  in  the  church- 
es.-f 

CYRIL, 

Bishop  of  Jerusalem,  who  died  386,  A.  D.,  has  the 
following  exhortation  in  his  Catechetical  Lectures: 

"And  fall  not  into  Judaism,  nor  into  the  sect  of 
the  Samarifans,  for  henceforth  hath  Jesus  Christ 
ransomed  thee.  Abstain  jrom  all  observance  of 
sabbaths,  and  from  callingan  indifferent  meat  *  com 
mon  or  unclean.'  Especially  abhor  all  the  assem- 
blies of  the  wicked  heretics;  and  in  every  way  make 

*  Festal  Epistles,  p.  .54.       /V  Historical  Tracts,  p.  268. 


154  SABBATH    AND     SUNDAY. 

thine  own  soul  safe,    by  fastings,    by  prayers,    by 
alms,  by  reading  of  the  divine  oracks."* 

Again  he  sajs: 

"  This  Holy  Spirit,  who  in  unison  with  the  Fa- 
ther and  Son,  has  establi>hed  the  New  Testament  in 
the  church  Catholic,  has  set  us  free  from  the  griev- 
ous burdens  of  the  law — those  ordinances,  I  me^n, 
concerning  things  common  and  unclean,  and  meats, 
and  sabbaths,  and  new  mocms,  and  circumcision, 
and  sprinklings,  and  sacrifices,  which  were  given  lor 
a  se^iBon,  and  had  the  shadow  of  good  things  to  come, 
but  which,  when  the  truth  had  come,  were  rightly 
abrogated."! 

CnilYSOSTOM. 

The  most  important  testimony  which  marks  the 
beginning  of  the  fifth  ceatury,  is  from  the  "  golden- 
tongued  "  Chrysostom,  Patriarch  of  Constantinople, 
who  died  402,  A.  D.  In  his  commentary  on  Gala- 
tians  2: 17,  he  says: 

"For  though  few  are  now  circumcis(d,  yet  by 
fasting  and  observing  the  Sabbath  with  the  Jews, 
they  equally  exclude  themselves  from  grace.  II 
Christ  avails  not  to  those  who  are  already  circum- 
cised, much  more  is  peril  to  be  feared  where  fasting 
and  sabbatizing  are  observed,  and  thus  two  com- 
mandments of  the  law  are  kept  instead  of  one.  .  .  . 
Wherefore  dost  thou  keep  the  Sab>  alh,  and  fast  with 
the  Jews?  Is  it  that  thou  fearest  the  law  and  aban- 
donment of  the  1(  tter?  But  thou  wouldst  not  enter- 
tain this  fear,  didst  thou  not  disparage  faith  as  weak, 
and  by  itself  powerless  to  save.  A  iear  to  omit  the 
Sabbath  plainly  shows  that  you  fear  the  law  as  still 
in  force;  aad  if  the  law  is  needful,  it  is  so  as  a  whole, 

*  Lecture  4,  sec.  37,  p.  51,  Oxford,  1839. 
i  Lecture  17.  sec.  29. 


SAIJBATII    AXU    SUXDAY.  155 

not  in  part,  nor  in  one  commandment  only;  and  if 
as  a  whole,  tlie  iiii:hteousness  which  is  by  tailli.  is, 
little  Ity  liule,  shut  out.  If  thou  keep  the  Sabbath, 
why  not  also  be  circumcised?  And  it  circumcised, 
why  n<  t  also  offer  sacrifices?  If  the  law  is  observed, 
it  must  be  observed  as  a  whole,  or  not  at  all."* 

In  treating  of  the  distinction  between  what  he  calls 
natural  and  positive  laws,  he  gives  utterance  to  the 
following: 

"How  was  it,  then,  when  he  said,  'Thou  shall 
not  kill,'  that  he  did  not  add,  '  because  murder  is  a 
wickt  d  1hing? '  The  reason  was  that  conscience  had 
taught  this  beforehand;  and  he  speaks  thus  as  to 
those  who  know  and  understand  the  point.  Where 
fore  when  he  speaks  to  us  of  another  commandment, 
not  known  to  us  by  the  dictate  of  conscience,  he 
not  only  prohibits  but  adds  the  reason.  AVhen,  for 
instance,  he  gave  commandment  respecting  the  Sab- 
bath, '  On  the  seventh  day  thou  shalt  do  no  work,' 
he  subjoined  also  th^  reason  for  this  cessation.  .  .  . 
For  wiiat  purpose,  then,  I  ask,  did  he  add  a  reason 
respecting  the  Sablath,  but  did  n  )  such  thing  in  re- 
gard to  murder?  Because  this  commandment  was 
not  one  of  the  leading  ones — tc^v  7r/jor]yov/.i€v~ 
Qoy,  It  was  not  one  of  those  which  were  ac- 
curately defined  of  our  conscience,  but  a  kind  of 
partial  and  temporary  one;  and  for  this  reason  it 
was  abolished  afterwards."! 

In  another  place,  Homily  on  Matthew,  aftei  re- 
viewing the  history  of  the  acts  of  Christ,  in  healing 
the  sick  on  the  Sabbath,  and  the  act  of  the  disciples 
in  plucking  the  ears  of  corn,  he  notes  the  arguments 

*  Library  of  the  Fathers,  Vol.  6,  p.  42,  Oxford,  1840. 
1  Homily  on  the  Statutes,  Liljrarj-,  etc.,  pp.  208,  209. 


156  8ABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

by   which  the   accusing  Jews  were   silenced,    and 
draws  the  following  conclusions; 

"  For  it  was  time  for  them  to  be  trained  in  all 
things  by  the  higher  rules,  and  it  was  unnecessary 
that  his  hands  should  be  bound,  who  w^as  fret d  from 
wickedness,  winged  for  all  good  works;  or  that  men 
should  hereby  learn  that  God  made  all  things;  or 
that  they  should  so  be  made  gentle,  who  are  called 
to  imitate  God's  own  love  to  mankind,  or  that  they 
should  make  one  day  a  festival  who  are  commanded 
to  keep  a  feast  all  their  life  long.  .  .  .  So  now,  why 
is  any  Sabbath  required  by  bim  who  is  always  keep- 
ing the  feast,  whose  conversation  is  in  heaven  ?  Let 
us  keep  the  feast  then  continually,  and  do  no  evil 
thing, /(9/'  this  is  a  feast,  and  let  our  spiritual  things 
be  intense,  while  our  earthly  things  give  place."* 

In  these  extracts,  the  same  no-Sabbath  theories 
appear,  which  vitiated  the  doctrines  of  the  leading 
men  in  the  Latin  Ctiurch  during  the  century  precfd- 
ing  the  time  of  Constantine.  Not  less  unscriptural 
are  the  following  teachings  from  the  pen  of  the  re- 
nowned 

AUGtJSTTNE, 

Bishop  of  Hippo,  who  died  430,  A.  D.,  He  says: 

"  Read  the  Old  Testament,  and  you  will  see  that 
so  far  as  precepts  are  concerned,  the  very  same  pre- 
cepts were  given  to  a  people  stilJ  carnal,  which  are 
given  to  us.  For  to  worship  one  God,  we  are 
commanded.  '  Thou  shalt  not  take  the  name  of  the 
Lord  thy  God  in  vain,'  which  is  the  s  c  nd  com- 
mandment. This  we  are  commanded  (oo,  •  observe 
the  Sabbath-day.'  This  commandment  concerns  us 
still  more  than  it  concerned  them;  because  it  is  com- 

*  Library,  etc.,  pp.  557,  5()8. 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  157 

mand'^d  to  be  observed  spiritually.  For  the  Jews 
observe  the  Sabbath  in  a  servile  way,  spending  it  in 
rioting,  in  drunkenness.  How  much  better  would 
their  women  be  emi'loyed  at  the  distaff,  than  danc- 
ing on  that  day,  in  the  balconies.  Let  us  not  say 
for  a  moment,  my  brethren,  that  these  observe  the 
Sabbath.  The  Christian  observes  that  Sabbath 
spiritually,  abstaining  from  servile  w-ork.  For  what 
is  from  servile  work?  From  sin.  How  prove  we 
this^  Ask  the  Lord.  '  Whosoever  committeth  sm 
is  the  servant  of  sin.'*  So  that  on  us  likewise  is  en- 
joined, spiritually,  the  observance  of  the  Sabbath."! 

Augustine  brings  out  the  idea  suggested  above 
more  fully,  in  his  remarks  on  the  Nine.ty-second 
Psalm.     He  says: 

"  The  title  of  the  Psalm,  is  '  Psalm  or  song  for 
the  Sabbath  day.'  This  day  on  which  I  address  you 
is  a  Sabbath-day,  which  the  .Jews  honor  by  an  ex- 
ternal rest,  and  by  slothful  idleness.  For  they  in- 
termit their  usual  occupations  only  to  indulge  in 
trifling  pursuits;  and  although  the  Sabbath  was  ap- 
pointed by  God,  they  nevertheless  spend  the  day  in 
doing  what  God  has  forbidden.  Our  Sabbath  con 
sists  in  abstaining  from  every  evil  work;  that  of  the 
Jews  consists  in  abstaining  from  every  good  work. 
It  would  be  much  better  to  till  the  ground  than  to 
dance.  They  abstain  from  doing  good  works,  and 
do  not  abstain  from  doing  others  which  are  puerile. 
God  commands  us  to  observe  the  Sabbath;  but  what 
is  the  Sabbith  which  he  commands  to  us?  Look, 
in  the  first  place,  where  it  is  observed  It  is  within 
us  it  is  in  our  heart  that  our  Sabbath  is.  Some  ap- 
pear externally  to  be  at  rest  when  their  conscience 
is  troubled  and  disturbed.     No  wicked  man  can  ob 

*  John  8:  34. 
t  Homily  on  John,  Lib.,  &c.,  p.  44,  CJxford,  1848. 


158  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

serve  this  icterjal  Sabbath.  His  conscience  is  never 
in  peace.  He  must  nect-s^arily  pass  his  life  in  con- 
tinual agitation.  The  good  conscience,  on  the  con- 
trajy,  is  always  tranquil;  and  it  is  that  tranquillity 
which  is  the  Sabbath  of  the  heart.  He  who  tastes 
that  internal  repose  expects  firmly  the  promises 
which  God  has  made  to  him  If  he  now  sutler  af- 
Hictions,  hope  of  the  future  transports  him  already 
to  heaven,  and  all  the  clouds  of  his  sorrow  are  dis- 
persed, according  to  the  words  of  St.  Paul,  '  Rejoice 
in  hope.'*  That  jo}^  which  we  taste  in  the  peace  of 
our  hope,  is  our  Sabbath.  It  is  that  to  which  we 
are  exhorted:  it  is  that  which  is  sung  in  this  P.-alm. 
The  Christian  is  there  taught  to  dwell  continually  in 
peace,  in  the  Sabbath  of  his  heart;  that  is  to  say, 
never  to  be  troubled,  but  to  be  steadfast  in  repose, 
in  tranquillity,  and  in  the  serenity  of  his  conscience. 
It  is  for  this  reason  that  the  ordinary  trouble  of  man 
is  here  marked,  to  enable  us  by  avoiding  it  to  cele- 
brate the  Sabbath  of  the  heart,  "f 

In  another  placet  Augustine  places  the  "  Sabbath 
and  circumcision  and  sacrifices  "  among  those  pre- 
cepts of  the  law  which  Christians  are  not  allowed 
to  use.  In  his  commentary  on  the  150th  Psalm,  he 
has  a  mystical  and  vague  exposition  of  the  meaning 
of  the  number  one  hundred  and  fifty,  in  which  the 
following  references  occur: 

"  This  number  fifteen,  I  say,  signifieth  the  agree- 
ment of  the  two  testaments.  For  in  the  former  is 
observed  the  Sabbath,  which  signifieth  rest,  in  the 
latter  the  Lord's-day,  which  signifieth  resurrec- 
tion.     The   Sabbath  is   the   seventh  day,    but  the 


*  Rom.  12: 12. 

t  Homily  on  92d  Psa..  Lib.    Fathers.  Vol.  6,  pp.  5C9-271. 

X  Short  Treatise,  p.  586,  Oxford,  1847. 


SABBATH    AND    SUXDAY.  159 

Lord's-day  coming  after  the  seventh  must 
needs  be  the  eighth,  and  is  also  to  be  reckoned  the 
first.  For  it  is  called  the  first  day  of  the  week,  and 
so  from  it  are  reckoned  the  second,  third,  fourth, 
and  so  on  to  the  seventh  day  of  the  week,  which  is 
the  Sabl)ath.  But  from  Lord  s-day  to  Lord's-day  is 
eight  days,  wherein  is  declared  tlie  revelation  of  the 
New  Testayient,  which  in  the  Old  was,  as  it  were, 
veiled  under  earthly  promises.*'* 

The  foregoing  are  the  representative  references  to 
the  Sabbath  in  the  writings  of  Augustine.  A  pas- 
sage has  been  quoted  from  the  treatise  entitled  De 
Tenip'')'€,  which  is  sometimes  ascribed  to  Augusline; 
but  the  evidences  against  the  authionticity  of  the 
work  are  such  as  to  preclude  the  conclusion 
that  it  came  from  the  pen  of  Augustine.  The 
passage  is  to  the  effect  that,  "The  holy  doctors 
of  the  church  decreed  to  transfer  the  glory  of  the 
Jewish  rest  to  the  Lord's-day."  This  sentiment  cor- 
responds to  the  Pharisaical  Churchism  which  pre- 
vailed during  the  latter  part  of  the  middle  ages.  Con- 
cerning the  sermon  from  which  this  passage  is  taken. 
Doctor  Pusey,  as  quoted  by  Hessey,  remarks:  "It 
is  later  than  the  eighth  century  since  it  incorporates 
a  passage  from  Alcuin."f  Kobert  Cox  supports,  by 
abundant  testimony,  the  idea  that  the  sermon  is 
falsely  ascribed  to  Augustine, 

By  tliese  representative  quotations,  the  reader  will 
see  that  the  Sunday  had  no  true  sabbatic  character 
in  the  theories  of  the  church  at  the  close  of  the  fifth 

*  Lib.  &c.,  p.  449. 
t  Hessey:  Lect.  on  Sunday,  Note  202;  and  Cox:  Sab.  Lit., 
Vq].  1,  p.  I2;i. 


160  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

century.  The  Pan-Sabbath  theory  of  rest  from  sin  did 
not  reach  the  lives  of  the  people.  Indeed,  it  could 
not,  for  the  means  by  which  men  come  into  those 
relations  with  God  which  develop  the  higher  spirit- 
ual life  were  taken  away  from  the  people  by  no- 
Sabbathism.  The  absence  of  all  sacred  time,  is,  in 
effect,  separation  from  God.  ]Meu,  lik^ Augustine, 
seem  to  have  apprehended  the  true  idea  of  the  Sab- 
bath, in  some  degree,  but  to  have  been  blind  to  the 
fact  that  the  Sabbath  idea  can  not  be  preserved  with- 
out the  Sabbath-</ay.  Thus  Sabbathless,  and  hence, 
separated  from  God,  the  church  continued  to  drift 
away  into  self-created  darkness.  Meanwhile  com- 
memorative days  grew  in  numbers  and  importance. 
Many  of  them,  like  the  Sunday,  were  transferred 
from  Paganism,  while  the  Pagan  idea  of  ' '  hero 
worship"  gave  birth  to  many  which  were  before  un- 
known. Bingham  testifies  concerning  them  as  fol- 
lows: 

"  The  ferm  CEstivm,  or  thirty  days  of  harvest,  and 
theferice  autumnales,  or  thirty  days  of  vintage,  three 
days  under  the  common  name  of  calends  of  January, 
one  day  in  memory  of  the  founding  of  Rome,  and 
another  in  memor}'  of  the  founding  of  Constantino- 
ple, and  four  days  in  memory  of  the  birth  and  in- 
auguration of  the  Emperors,  were  exempt  from  ju- 
dicial pleadings  in  the  courts.  All  these,  together 
with  the  fifteen  days  of  Easter,  and  all  Sundays 
throughout  the  year',  were  exempted  by  a  law  of 
Theodosius  and'Valentian,  Junior,  about  the  year 
390 ;  and  afterward  (560)  there  were  added  to  these, 
by  Justinian,  the  days  of  the  passion  of  the  apostles; 
and  all  public  shows  and  games  upon  any  of  them 
prohibited.     Most   of  these  were  of  long  standing 


SABBATH    AND    SLXDAT.  161 

amoug-  the  Romans,  and  were  retained  after  the  in- 
troduction of  Christianity."* 

Heylyn  thus  sums  up  the  testimony  on  this  point: 
"  For  the  imperial  constitutions  of  this  present 
age,  (latter  part  of  the  fourth  century,)  they  strike, 
all  of  them,  on  one  and  the  self  same  string  with 
that  of  Constantine  before  remembered,  save  that 
the  Emperors,  Gratian,  Yalentinian,  and  Theodosius, 
who  were  all  partners  in  the  empire,  set  out  an  edict 
to  prohibit  all  public  shows  upon  the  Sunday.  .  .  . 
The  other  edicts  which  concern  the  business  now  in 
hand,  were  only  additions  and  explanations  unto  that 
of  Constantine,  one  in  relation  to  the  matter,  and 
the  other  in  reference  to  the  time.  First,  in  relation 
to  the  matter;  whereas  all  judges  were  forbidden  by 
the  law  of  Constantine  from  sitting  on  that  day  in 
open  court,  there  was  now  added  a  clause  touching 
arbitrators,  that  none  should  arbitrate  any  litigious 
cause,  or  take  cognizance  of  any  pecuniary  business, 
on  the  Sunday,  a  penalty  being  inflicted  upon  them 
that  transgressed  herein.  This,  ])ublished  by  the 
same  three  Emperors,  Houorius  and  Euodiue  being 
that  year  consuls,  which  was  in  anno  384,  as  the 
former  was,  afterward  Valentinian  and  Yalens,  Em- 
perors, were  pleased  to  add,  that  they  would  have 
no  Christians  upon  that  day  brought  before  the  of- 
ficers of  the  exchequer.  In  reference  to  the  time,  it 
was  thought  good  by  Yalentinian,  Theodosius,  and 
Arcadius,  all  three  Emperors  together,  to  make  some 
other  festivals  capable  of  the  same  exemptions.  For, 
whereas,  formally,  all  the  time  of  harvest  and  of 
autumn  had  been  exempted  from  pleadings,  and  the 
calends  of  January  ("New  year's")  also,  these  ad- 
ded thereunto  the  days  on  which  the  two  great  cities 
of  Rome  and  Constantinople  had  been  built,  the  sev- 
en days  before  Easter  day,  and  the  seven  that  fol- 
lowed,   together  with   every  Sunday  in  its  course; 

*  Antiquities,  Book  20,  chap.  1. 
(11) 


162  SABBATH     AND    SUN^DAY. 

yea,  and  the  birthdays  of  themselves,  with  those  on 
which  each  of  them  had  begun  his  empire.  So  that, 
in  this  regard,  the  sacred  day  had  no  more  privilege 
than  the  civil,  but  were  all  alike,  the  Emperor' s-day 
as  much  respected  as  the  Lord's.'^* 

In  this  equality,  concerning  matters  of  business, 
the  Sunday,  and  numerous  other  festivals,  continued 
to  stand,  until  more  than  eighty  years  after.  In 
469,  A.  D.,  the  Emperor  Leo  made  a  statue  prohibi- 
ting the  obscene  shows  in  the  theaters,  and  the  com- 
bats with  wild  beasts,  upon  the  Sunday;  more,  how- 
ever, because  of  the  extreme  obscenity  of  the  shows, 
and  their  interruption  of  the  public  services,  than  of 
any  sacredness  of  the  day.  f  Even  these  prohibitions 
were  not  confined  to  the  Sunday  ;i  for,  in  the  language 
of  Bingham: 

' '  He  not  only  restrained  the  people  from  celebra- 
ting their  games  on  the  Lord's-day,  but  on  all  other 
solemn  festivals,  Christmas,  Epiphany,  Easter,  and 
Pentecost,  obliging  both  Jews  and  Gentiles,  over  all 
the  world,  to  show  respect  to  those  days,  by  putting 
a  distinction  between  days  of  supplication  and  days 
of  pleasure,  and  this  became  the  standing  law  of  the 
Roman  Empire." 

Again  Heylyn  says: 

' '  Thus  do  we  see  on  what  grounds  the  Lord's-day 
stands;  on  custom  first,  and  voluntary  consecration 
of  it  to  religious  meetings,  that  custom  countenanced 
by  the  authority  of  the  church  of  God,  which  tacitly 
approved  the  same,  and  finally  confirmed  and  ratified 
by  Christian  princes  throughout  their  empires.  And 
as  the  day,  so  the  rest  from  labor,  and  the  restraint 

*  History,  Sabbath,  Part  2,  chap.  3,  sec.  10. 
t  See  Heylyn,  Hist.  Sab.,  part  2.  chap.  4,  sec.  2;  also  Bing- 
ham, book  20,  chap.  .5,  see.  4. 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  163 

from  business  upon  that,  received  {{'^greatest  strength 
from  the  supreme  magistrate,  as  long  as  he  retained 
that  power,  which  to  him  belonged,  as  after,  from 
the  canons  and  decrees  of  councils,  and  the  decretals 
of  popes  and  orders  of  particular  prelates,  when  the 
sole  managing  of  ecclesiastical  affairs  was  commit- 
ted to  them.  .  .  .  The  Lord's-day  had  no  such  (di- 
vine) command  that  it  should  be  sanctified,  but  was 
left  plainly  to  God's  people  to  pitch  on  this  or  any 
other  for  the  public  use.  And,  being  taken  up 
amongst  them  and  made  a  day  of  meeting  in  the 
congregation  for  religious  exercise,  yet  for  three 
hundred  years  there  was  neither  law  to  bind  them 
to  it,  nor  any  rest  from  labor,  nor  from  worldly  busi- 
ness! required  upon  it.  And  when  it  seemed  good 
to  Christian  princes,  the  nursing  fathers  of  God's 
church,  to  lay  restraints  upon  their  people,  yet,  at 
first,  they  were  not  general,  but  only  thus,  that  cer- 
tain men  in  certain  places  should  lay  aside  their  or- 
dinary and  daily  works  to  attend  God's  service  in 
the  church;  those  whose  employments  were  most 
toilsome  and  most  repugnant  to  the  true  nature  of  a 
Sabbath,  being  allowed  to  follow  and  pursue  their 
labors  because  most  necessary  to  the  Commonwealth. 
And  in  the  following  times  when  the  princes  and 
prelates,  in  their  several  places,  endeavored  to  re- 
strain them  f rem  that  also,  which  formerly  they  had 
permitted,  and  interdicted  almost  all  kinds  of  bodily 
labor  upon  that  day,  it  was  not  brought  about  with- 
out much  struggling  and  opposition  of  the  people, 
more  than  a  thousand  years  being  passed  after 
Christ's  ascension,  before  the  Lord's-day  had  at- 
tained that  state  in  which  now  it  standeth."* 

Doctor  Hessey,  after  referring  to  the  legislation  of 
Constantine,  adds: 

About  sixty  years  later,  the  transaction  of  business 
*  History  Sabbath,  Part  2,  chap.  3.  sec.  12. 


JG4  SABBATH    AND   SUNDAY. 

{nef/otiorum  inteniio)  was  forbidden  by  Tbeodosius 
the  Great,  A.  D.  386,  who,  in  the  words  of  canon 
Robertson,  also  abolished  the  spectacles  in  which 
the  heathen  had  found  their  consolation  when  the 
day  had  been  set  apart  from  other  secular  uses  by 
Constantine.  Theodosius  the  younger,  A.  D.  425, 
in  legislating  on  the  subject,  stated  that  the  honors 
due  to  the  Enii)eror  were  less  important  than  the 
observance  of  the  Lord's-day,  and  of  certain  oOier 
sacred  semons  which  lu;  specifies.  Leo  and  Anthe- 
mius,  A.  I).  469,  held  yet  stronger  language.  If  the 
Emperor's  birthday  fell  on  that  day,  the  acknowl- 
edgement of  it,  which  was  acccmipanied  by  games, 
was  to  be  put  off.  It  does  not  however  a])])ear  that  the 
Christians,  now  greatly  increased  in  number,  so  much 
objected  to  the  EmjK'ror  that  all  relaxation  on  the 
Lord's  (lay  was  unlawful,  as  that  these  games,  being- 
idolatrous,  indecent,  and  cruel,  and  so  unfit  for  a 
Christian  to  attend  on  any  day,  were  especially  unfit 
to  engage  his  thoughts  or  attra(;t  his  attention  on  the 
Jj<nxfs-day .  In  particidar,  the  weaker  brethren  were 
likely  to  be  led  away  by  them.  A  few  notices  as  to 
legal  ])roceedings  may  conclude  this  ])ortion  of  our 
subject.  Constantine  qualified  his  general  prohibi- 
tion of  law-business  on  the.  Lord's-day,  by  soon  af- 
terwards ])ermitting  the  acts  of  conferring  liberty 
and  equal  lights,  {mannmissio,  for  instance,  or  giv- 
ing freedtmi  to  the  slave,  and  emancipatio,  or  setting 
the  son  free  from  the  i)aternal  pow(^r).  Tliislaw  was 
followed,  under  Yalentinian  and  Yalens,  A.  I).  368, 
by  one  piohibiting  exacting  on  that  day,  from  any 
Christian,  the  payment  of  any  debt.  .  .  .  Theodosius 
the  Great,*  confirmed  all  tins,  jjul  made  his  prohibi- 
tion include  not  merely  the  Dies  Solis  nxii  repetio  in 
se  calculo  moluntur,  but  sucli  a  number  of  otner 
days  as  tf)  constitute?  one  hundred  and  twenty -four 
judicial  holidays  in  the  course  of  the  year. "f 

*  Cod.  Th('(.(l.  ii.  K,  -Z.  1  Lectures  on  Sunday,  p.  s:i 


SABBATH    AXl)    SUNDAY.  165 

Tlius  it  is  seen  that  the  Sunday  was  by  no  means 
the  most  important  and  sacred  festival  of  these 
times,  in  a  civil  point  of  view. 

1.  The  civil  legislation  in  favor  of  Sunday,  down 
to  the  close  of  the  fifth  century,  differed  Init  little,  if 
at  all,  from  the  civil  legislation  relative  to  a  large 
number  of  other  festivals. 

,  2.  The  ecclesiastical  action  both  advisory  and  leg- 
islative sought  to  discourage  "  Judaism,"  and  to  in- 
troduce that  false  liberty  which  has  ever  been  the\ 
legitimate  attendant  of  no-Sabbathism.  At  best,  the 
Sunday  had  little  or  no  pre-eminence  over  days  made 
sacred  to  saints,  emperors,  martyrs,  and  cities.  It 
did  not  approach  the  modern  idea  of  the  "  Christian 
Sabbath."  Doctor  Hessey  groups  these  facts  in  the 
following  words: 

"  But  with  all  this,  in  no  clearly  genuine  passage 
that  I  can  discover  in  any  writer  of  these  two  cen- 
turies, or  in  any  public  document,  ecclesiastical  or 
civil,  is  the  fourth  commandment  referred  to  as  the 
ground  of  o])ligatiou  to  observe  the  Lords-day.  In 
no  passage,  too,  is  there  anything  like  a  reference  to 
the  Creation  words,  as  the  ground  of  the  obligation 
to  observe  it,  with  the  exception,  perhaps,  of  that 
one  passage  in  Chrysostom  in  which  the  command 
for  the  seventh  day  is  made,  aiviy/datcodcos  to 
shadow  forth  the  command  for  the  first.  In  no  pas- 
sage is  there  anything  like  the  confusion  between 
'  the  seventh  day  '  and  '  one  day  in  seven,'  of  which 
we  have  heard  so  much  in  England  since  A.  D. 
1595.  In  no  passage  is  there  any  hint  of  the  trans- 
fer of  the  Sal)bath  to  the  Lord's-day,  or  of  the  plant- 
ing of  the  Lord's-day  on  the  ruins  of  the  Sal)bath, 
those  fictions  of  modern  times.    If  the   Sabbatli   ap- 


166  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

pears,  it  appears  as  a  perfectly  distinct  day.  And 
wliat  is  still  more  to  our  purpose,  looking  at  the  mat- 
ter as  a  practical  one,  though  law  proceedings  are 
forbidden,  and  labors  for  gain  (at  any  rate  in  towns) 
are  forbidden,  and  amusements  unseemly  for  a  Chris- 
tian on  any  day  are  forbidden,  no  symptom  is  as  yet 
discoverable  of  compulsory  restrictions  of.  or  con- 
scientious abstinence  from  such  recreations  and 
necessary  duties,  (other  than  trades  and  professions  ) 
as  are  permissible  on  other  days,  so  long  as  they  do 
not  interfere  with  divine  worship,  and  things  con- 
nected with  it,  and  appropriate  to  the  Lord's-day. 
...  In  fact,  M^e  may  at  least  say,  that  thougli  to  a 
certain  extent  formalized,  and  to  a  certan  extent  di- 
vested of  its  unique  claims  to  the  Christian  regard, 
the  Lord's-day  at  the  end  of  the  fifth  century  is  not 
transformed  into  anything  like  the  Sabbath  as  the 
Jews  had  it."* 

Thus  the  facts  of  history  demolish,  step  by  step, 
the  modern  fictions  of  Puritanism  relative  to  the 
early  ol)servance  of  Sunday. 

*  Lectures  on  Sunday,  p.  86. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

Sunday  in  the  Church  j^oun- 


CILS. 


Certain  writers  assert  that  the  early  church, 
through  its  Councils,  set  the  Sabbath  aside,  and  put 
the  Sunday  in  its  phice.  The  nature  of  this  depart- 
ment, "  The  Councils,"  is  fairly  set  forth  in  the  fol- 
lowing: 

"  It  is  not  till  after  the  middle  of  the  second  cen- 
tury that  we  find  the  example  of  Jerusalem  followed 
and  councils  called  to  solve  questions  that  threatened 
the  unity  and  well-l)eing  of  the  Christian  church  and 
community.  The  earliest  councils,  historically  at- 
tested, are  those  convened  in  Asia  Minor  against  the 
Montanists;  though  it  is  by  no  means  unlikely  that 
at  a  much  earlier  period  the  Christian  Greeks  gave 
scope,  in  ecclesiastical  affairs,  to  tiieir  instinct  tor 
organization,  for  taking  common  action  in  regard  to 
matters  affecting  the  public  good.  Near  the  end  ot 
the  second  century  again,  varying  views  as  to  the 
celebration  of  Easter  led  to  councils  in  Palestine  at 
Rome,  in  Pontus,  Gaul,  Mesopotamia,  and  at  i.phe- 
sus.  These  councils  were  all  specially  called  to  con- 
sider particular  questions.  But  before  the  middle  ot 
the  third  century,  it  seems  that  in  Asia  Minor  at 
least,  the  councils  or  synods  had  become  a  standing 
institution,  and  met  yearly.  Al)0ut  the  same  time 
we  find  councils  in  the  Latin  church  of  North  Africa. 
Before  the  end  of  this  century  there  were  councils 


168  SABBATH     AND    SUNDAY. 

meeting  regularly  in  almost  every  province  in  Chris- 
tendom, from  Spain  and  Gaul  to  Arabia  and  Mesopo- 
tamia, and  by  extension  and  further  organization, 
there  was  soon  formed  a  system  of  mutually  corres- 
pondent synods  that  gave  to  the  church  the  aspect  of 
a  federative  republic."* 

One  would  naturally  expect  to  tind  much  concern- 
ing Sunday  in  the  records  of  these  councils,  if  the 
day  was  adopted  by  the  apostles,  or  even  the  earlier 
church,  instead  of  the  Sabbath.  We  have  made  care- 
ful examination  of  their  history  previous  to  the  mid- 
dle of  the  fifth  century,  and  give  below  every  refer- 
ence to  Sunday  or  its  observance.  It  will  be  seen 
that  the  "  Easter  "  question  is  the  prominent  cause 
for  the  few  references  which  are  made.  The  period 
covered  by  these  investigations  includes  the  first  two 
"Ecumenical,"  or  general  councils,  and  not  less 
than  eighty  local  and  provincial  ones.  They  cover 
the  time  to  429  A.  D.  There  seem  to  have  ))een  no 
rules  concerning  Sunday  as  a  Sabbath.  The  refer- 
ences to  it  are  of  an  incidental  character  rather  than 
of  a  systematic  consideration.  The  Synod  of  Elvira, 
Spain,  305  or  306,  A.  D.,  Canon  21,  decrees  that  if 
one  l)e  staying  in  a  city,  and  shall  be  absent  from 
church  on  three  Sundays,  he  shall  be  deprived  of  the 
communion  for  a  "  little  time."  We  have  given  the 
earliest  date  for  this  council,  although  there  are 
strong  reasons  in  favor  of  a  later  one,  and  the  exact 
.date  is  not  known. f 

*  Ency.  Brit.,  Vol.  VI.,  p.  453,  9th  ed. 
t  History  Church  Councils,  Hefele,  Vol.  1,  p.  14.5,  Edinburg, 

1872. 


SA.BBATH    AND   SUNDAY, 


169 


The  llth  Canon  of  the  Council  of  Sardica;  (343- 
347,  A.  D.,)  makes  reference  to  the  above  action  as 
follows: 

-Remember  that  ourfathers  have  already  directed 
that  a  layman  who  is  staying  in  a  town,  and  does  not 
appear  at  divine  service,  {celebrasset  coyiventum)  tor 
three  Sundavs,  shall  be  excommunicated;  and  it 
this  is  ordered  with  regard  to  the  laity,  no  bishop  can 
be  allowed  to  absent  himself  for  a  longer  time  from 
his  church,  or  leave  the  people  entrusted  to  him,  ex- 
cept from  necessity,  or  for  some  urgent  business.         x 

The  penalty  of  "  excommunication  "  was  added  to 
many  other  acts  besides  staying  from  service  for  three 
weeks.  In  the  collection  of  Canons  attributed  to  the 
"Fourth  Synod  of  Carthage,"  which  collection  was 
evidently  compiled  during  the  sixth  century,  we  find 
the  following  decrees: 

"  24  Whoever  leaves  the  church  during  the  ser- 
mon of  the  priest  shall  be  excommunicated.'' 

"88  He  who  neglects  divine  service  on  festivals, 
and  goes  instead  to  the  theatre  shall  be  excommuni- 
cated." 

In  the  Fifth  "  Carthagenian  Synod,"  (fifth  cen- 
tury), canon  5th  declares: 

"  On  Sundays  and  feast  days  no  plays  may  be  per- 
formed."! 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  act  of  "  excommuni- 
cation," was  not  ordered  because  Sunday  stood  above 
the  other  festivals  in  sacredness,  but  rather  that  this 
was  a  common  punishment.  Indeed  it  is  attached 
to  an  almost  endless  catalogue  of  acts  and  omissions. 

*  Canon  11,  Hefele,  Vol.  2,  P.  IfS. 
t  Hefele.  Vol.  2,  pp.  413,  417,  423- 


170  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

At  the  Councdl  of  Nice,  the  first  Ecumenical 
council,  325  A.  D.,  there  was  much  discussion  con- 
cerning the  time  of  holding  what  is  now  called  the 
Easter  festival.  In  that  discussion  the  Sunday  is 
referred  to  several  times  as  the  time  for  the  specific 
Easter  celebration.  But  the  references  throw  no  light 
upon  the  character  of  the  Sunday,  per  se.  The  20th 
Canon  of  that  Council  is  as  follows: 

"As  some  kneel  on  the  Lord's-day,  and  on  the 
days  of  Pentecost,  the  holy  Synod  has  decided  that, 
for  the  observance  of  a  general  rule,  all  shall  offer 
their  prayers  to  God  standing.  "* 

The  Synod  of  Laodicea— 343-381  A.  D.— furnishes 
an  oft  quoted  decree  as  follows: 

/     '*  Christians  shall  not  Judaize  and  be  idle  on  Sat- 

/  urday,  but  shall  work  on  that  day;  but  the  Lord's- 

;  day  they  shall  especially  honor,  and  as  being  Chris 

tians,  shall,  if  possible,  do  no  work  on  that  day.     If, 

however,   they  are  found  Judaizing,  they  shall  be 

shut  out  from  Christ,  "f 

The  16th  Canon  of  the  same  council  shows  tliat 
this  restriction  could  have  applied  to  only  a  part  of 
the  Sablmth,  for  it  shows  that  it  was  a  day  of  public 
religious  service  like  Sunday,     It  is  as  follows: 

"On  Saturday  (Sabbath)  the  Gospels  and  other 
portions  of  the  Scriptures  shall  be  read  aloud,  "t 

Hefele  says  of  Canon  16: 

"  Neander  remarks  that  this  canon  is  open  to  two 
interpretations.  It  may  mean  that  on  Saturday,  as 
on  Sunday,  the  holy  Scriptures  shall  be  read  aloud 

*  Hefele,  Vol.  1,  p.  434.  1  Hefele,  Vol.  2,  p.  31G. 

;ib.Id.  p.  310. 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  171 

in  the  church,  and  therefore,  solemn  public  service 
shall  be  held;  and  canon  49,  is  in  favor  of  this  in- 
terpretation. It  was  also  the  custom  in  many  prov- 
inces of  the  ancient  church  to  observe  Saturday  as 
the  feast  of  the  creation." 

Canon  49,  reads  as  follows: 

"  During  Lent,  the  bread  shall  not  be  offered,  ex- 
cept on  Saturday  and  Sunday." 

Canon  51,  says: 

"During  Lent  no  feasts  of  the  Mart3'rs  shall  be 
celebrated,  but  the  holy  Martyrs  shall  be  commeuKj- 
rated  on  the  Saturdays'and  Sundays  of  Lent." 

To  this  canon  Hefele  adds: 

"  For  the  obvious  reason  that  on  these  days  thei-e 
was  full  and  solemn  service."* 

The  English  translator  of  Hefele  has  incorrectly 
used  Saturday  for  "  the  Sabbath,"  in  the  foregoing 
paragraphs. 

The  foregoing  extracts  constitute  the  testimony  of 
the  councils,  local  and  general,  down  to  the  close  of 
the  first  quarter  of  the  fifth  century.  They  show: 
(a)  That  little  attention  was  paid  to  the  Sunday  ques- 
tion by  the  councils,  aside  from  its  relation  to  the 
contest  relative  to  the  time  of  observing  Easter,  (b) 
These  extracts  show  that  the  Sunday  had  no  pre- 
eminence in  point  of  sacredness  over  the  Sabbath,  or 
over  other  festivals.  Indeed  the  order  not  to  rest  on 
the  Sabbath  indicates  that  the  custom  of  abstaining 
from  labor  on  that  day  still  continued  in  force,  and 
that  cessation  from  labor  on  Sunday,  was  not  j^et  an 

*  Hefele,  Vol.  2,  p.  320 


172  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

established  custom.  These  facts  relative  to  what 
was  said  by  the  councils,  show  that  after  the  time  of 
Constantine  the  civil  law  was  the  stronghold  of  the 
Sunday.  Its  gradual  elevation  into  the  place  of  the 
Sabbath  resulted  from  the  seeds  of  Paganism  from 
which  legislation  l)egan,  and  not  from  the  religious 
experiences  of  the  church. 


CHAPTER  XVL 

The  Sabbath  From  Constan- 

TINE    TO     THE    DaRK     AgES. 

We  have  also  valuable  testimony  showing  that  the 
Sabbath  survived  for  some  time  the  new-born  oppo- 
sition which  arose  with  the  civil  legislation  of  Con- 
stantiue  and  his  successors,  i.  e.,  after  321  A.  D. 
This  too,  in  the  body  of  the  Western,  Romanized 
church;  saying  nothing  here  of  the  dissenters,  who, 
at  a  later  period,  withdrew  from  the  Romanized 
branch,  nor  of  the  Eastern  wing  of  the  church,  which 
never  gave  up  the  Sabbath.  Certain  writings  once 
accepted  as  genuine,  but  now  known  to  be  spurious 
have  an  historic  value,  by  showing  what  ideas  and 
practices  obtained  as  late  as  the  sixth  century.  Prom- 
inent among  these  are 

CONSTITUTIONS   OF   THE   HOLY   APOSTLES 

The  question  of  their  date,  authorship,  etc.,  is  stat- 
ed by  the  Encyclopedia  Britannica,  as  follows: 

"  According  to  some  authors,  the}'  are  tirst  quoted 
in  the  Acts  of  the  Sj^nod  of  Constantinople,  in  394 
A.  D, ,  and  in  those  of  the  Synods  of  Ephesus  and 
Chalcedon,  in  481  and  431  A*^,  D.  Some  have  said 
that  they  are  mentioned  in  the  Decretum  de  Hhris 
recipiendis,  issued  by  Pope  Gelasius,  (492-496  A.  D.) 
while  otliers  have  pointed  out  that  the  name  occurs 
in  those  manuscripts  only  which  have  the  decree  of 


174  SABBATH    AND  SUiy^DAY. 

Hormisdas,  (514-523).  Perhaps  the  soundest  decis- 
ion is,  that  the  collection  is  not  mentioned  in  history 
until  about  the  end  of  the  5tli  centur}';  it  is  un- 
doubted that  it  was  in  existence  before  the  beginning 
of  the  sixth,  for  the  Latin  translation  of  the  lirst 
fifty  Canons  dates  from  the  year  500  A.  D."* 

Dr.  Hessej"  speaks  of  the  Constitutions  as  follows: 
' '  I  have  delayed  until  now  the  consideration  of 
the  remarkable  document  called  the  '  Apostolic  Con- 
stitutions. '  It  is  impossible,  for  many  reasons  to  sup- 
pose that  it  was  written  by  Clemens  Romanus,  and  its 
whole  tone,  and  its  preceptive  manner,  and  tlie  slate 
of  things  to  which  it  alludes,  make  the  notion  of  its 
being  even  an  Ante-Nicene  collection,  very  question- 
able It  is  probably  to  be  relegated  to  the  latter  part 
of  the  fourth  or  the  earlier  part  of  the  fifth  century,  "f 

In  his  note  203,  Hessey  quotes  Lardner  in  favor  of 
the  date  as  given  by  him. 

In  Ante-Nicene  Librarj-,  Vol.  17,  Introductory 
Notice  of  the  Constitutions,  we  find  this. 

"  Modern  critics  are  equally  at  sea  in  determining 
the  date  of  collections  of  canons  given  at  the  end  of 
the  eighth  book.  Most  believe  that  some  of  them  be- 
long to  the  Apostolic  Age,  while  others  are  of  a  com- 
parativel}^  late  date." 

The  safest  conclusion  seems  to  be  this.  The  Con- 
stitutions describe  a  state  of  things  which  came  about 
gradually,  between  the  third  and  sixth  centuries,  and 
are  of  some  value  as  collateral  historic  evidence;  as 
such,  the  references  to  the  Sabbath  question  are  giv- 
en below.  Book  I,  which  is  "  Concerning  the  Laity," 
does  not  refer  to  the  question.     Book  II  treats  of, 

*  Vol.  2,  p.  170,  American  Reprint,  9th  edition. 
t  Sunday  Lectures,  3d,  p.  76. 


SABBATH    AND     SU:N^DAY.  175 

•'  Bishops,  Presbyters  and  Deacons."  In  this  are  the 
following  references  to  the  question  under  considera- 
tion. Chapter  36  treats  of  the  ten  commandments 
as  follows: 

"  Have  before  thine  eyes  the  fear  of  God,  and  al- 
ways remember  the  ten  commandments  of  God, — to 
love  the  one,  and  only  Lord  God  with  all  thy  strength, 
and  to  give  no  heed  to  idols,  or  any  other  beings,  as 
being  lifeless  gods,  or  irrational  beings  or  demons. 
Consider  the  manifold  workmanship  of  God,  which 
received  its  beginning  through  Christ.  Thou  shalt 
observe  the  Sabl)ath,  on  account  of  him  who  ceased 
from  his  work  of  creation,  but  ceased  not  from  his 
Avork  of  providence;  it  is  a  rest  for  meditation  of  the 
law,  not  for  idleness  of  the  hands."* 

Nothing  is  said  in  this  chapter  about  any  observ- 
ance of  Sunday.  In  accepting  the  idea  that  Chris- 
tians should  not  go  to  law  before  unbelievers,  there 
seems  to  have  been  a  custom  by  which  the  Bishop, 
Presbyters  and  Deacons,  heard  and  decided  questions 
of  difference  between  brethren.  Several  chapters  are 
occupied  in  giving  directions  concerning  such  ad- 
judications. The  47th  chapter  indicates  that  such 
courts  were  held  on  the  Sabbath  and  on  the  Lord's- 
day.     The  instructions  are  as  follows: 

"  Let  your  judicatures  be  held  on  the  second  day 
of  the  week,  that  if  any  controversy  arise  about  your 
sentence,  having  an  interval  till  the  Sabbath,  you 
may  be  able  to  set  the  controversy  right,  and  to  re- 
duce those  to  peace  who  have  the  contests  one  with 
another,  against  the  Lord's-day,"f 

*  Ante-Nicene  Lib.,  Vol.  17,  pp.  65,  66. 
t  Ante-Nicene  Lib.,  Vol.  17,  p.  75. 


176  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

Chapter  59  gives  directions  concerning  pnblic  as- 
semblies in  the  following  words: 

"When  thou  iustmctest  the  people  Oh,  Bishop, 
command  and  exhort  them  to  come  constantly  to 
church  m.orning  and  evening  every  day,  and  by  no 
means  to  forsake  it  on  any  account,  but  to  assemble 
together  continually.  ...  Be  not  careless  of  youi  - 
selves,  neither  deprive  your  Saviour  of  his  own  mem- 
bers, neither  divide  his  body  nor  disperse  his  mem- 
bers, neither  prefer  the  occasions  of  his  life  to  the 
Word  of  God;  but  assemble  yourselves  together  every 
day,  morning  and  evening,  saying  psalms  and  pray- 
ing in  the  Lord's  house,  in  the  morning  singing  the 
sixt5^-second  Psalm,  and  in  the  evening  the  hundred 
and  fortieth,  but  principall}"  on  the  Sabbath-day. 
And  on  the  day  of  our  Lord's  resurrection,  which  is 
the  Lord's-day,  meet  more  diligently,  sending  praise 
to  God  that  'made  the  universe  by  Jesus  and  sent 
him  10  us,  and  condescended  to  let'him  suffer,  and 
raised  him  from  the  dead.  Otherwise  what  apology 
will  he  make  to  God  who  does  not  assemble  on  that 
day  to  hear  the  saving  word  concerning  the  resurrec- 
tion, on  which  day  we  pray  thrice  standing,  in  mem- 
ory of  him  who  arose  in  three  days,  in  which  is  per- 
formed the  reading  of  the  prophets,  the  preaching 
of  the  gospel,  the  oblation  of  the  sacrifice,  the  gift 
of  the  holy  food,* 

Book  III,  "  Concerning  Widows  ; "  and  Book  IV, 
"Concerning  Orphans,"  are  silent  on  the  Sabbath 
question.  Book  V,  Sec.  3,  is  "On  Feast  Days  and 
Fast  Days; "  chapter  18  is  as  follows: 

"Do  you,  therefore,  fast  on  the  days  of  the  pass- 
over,  beginning  from  the  second  day  of  the  week 
until  the  prep^iration,  and  the   Sabbath,    six   days, 

*  Ante-Nicene,  Lib.  Vol.  17,  pp.  87,  88. 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  177 

making  use  of  only  bread,  and  salt,  herbs  and  water  for 
your  drink ;  but  do  you  abstain  on  those  days  from 
wine  and  flesh,  for  they  are  days  of  lamentation  and 
not  of  feasting.  Do  ye  who  are  able  fast  the  day  of 
the  preparation  and  the  Sabbath-day  entirely,  tast- 
ing nothing  till  the  cock-crowing  of  the  night ;  but 
if  any  one  is  not  able  to  join  them  both  together,  at 
least*  let  him  observe  the  Sabbath-day  ;  for  the  Lord 
says  somewhere,  speaking  of  himself:  '  When  the 
bridegroom  shall  be  taken  away  from  them,  then 
shall  they  fast.'  In  these  days,  therefore,  he  was 
taken  away  from  us  by  the  Jews,  falsely  so  named, 
and  fastened  to  the  cross,  and  was  numbered  among 
the  transgressors."  .  .  .  Chap.  20. — "We  enjoin 
you  to  fast  every  fourth  day  of  the  week,  and  every 
day  of  the  preparation,  and  the  surplusage  of  your 
fast  bestow  on  the  needy;  every  Sabbath-day  ex- 
cepting one,  and  every  Lord's-day,  hold  your  solemn 
assemblies,  and  rejoice;  for  he  will  be  guilty  of  sin 
who  fasts  on  the  Lord's-day,  being  the  day  of  the 
resurrection,  or  during  the  time  of  Pentecost,  or,  in 
general,  who  is  sad  on  a  festival  day  of  the  Lord. 
For  on  them  we  ought  to  rejoice.* 

Book  VI,  treats  of  "Heresies,"  etc.,  and  contains 
nothing  pertinent  to  our  subject.  Book  VII,  chap- 
ter 23,  discusses  the  time  for  fasting  in  nearly  the 
same  language  already  quoted  from  Book  V.  It  i* 
as  follows: 

"  But  let  not  your  fasts  be  with  the  hypocrites,  for 
they  fast  on  the  second  and  fifth  days  of  the  week. 
But  do  you  either  fast  the  entire  five  days,  or  on  the 
fourth  day  of  the  week,  and  on  the  day  of  prepara- 
tion, because  on  the  fourth  day  the  condemnation 
went  out  against  the  Lord.  Judas  then  promising 
to  betray   him  for  money;  and  you   must  fast  on 

*  Ante-Nicene  Lib.,  VoL  17.  pp.  138,  143. 
(12) 


178  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

the  (lay  of  the  preparation,  because  on  that  da}'-  the 
Lord  suffered  the  death  of  the  cross  under  Pontius 
Pilate.  But  keep  the  8a])bath  and  tiie  Lord's-day 
fi^stival;  because  the  former  is  the  memorial  of  the 
creation,  aid  the  latter  of  the  resurrection.  But  there 
is  one  only  Sal)l)ath  to  l)e  observed  by  you  in  the 
whole  year,  which  is  that  of  the  Lord's  burial,  on 
which  men  ought  to  keep  a  fast,  but  not  a  festival. 
For  inasmuch  as  the  Creator  was  then  under  the 
earth,  the  sorrow  for  him  is  more  forcible  than  the 
jo}^  for  the  creation;  for  the  creator  is  more  honora- 
ble by  nature  and  dignity  than  his  own  creatures."* 

Chapter  36  gives  a  form  of  prayer  in  which  Sab- 
bath and  Lord's-day  appear  as  follows: 

' '  Oh  Lord  Almighty,  thou  hast  created  the  world 
hy  Christ,  and  hast  appointed  the  Sabbath  in  mem- 
ory thereof,  becau-e  that  on  that  day  thou  hast- made 
us  rest  from  o.u-  works,  for  the  meditation  uj)on  thy 
laws.  Thou  hast  also  appointed  festivals  for  the  re- 
joicing of  our  souls,  that  we  might  come  into  the 
remembrance  of  that  wisdom  which  was  created  by 
thee;  how  he  submitted  to  l)e  made  of  a  woman  on 
our  account.  Jle  appeared  in  life,  and  demonstrated 
himself  in  his  baptism;  how  he  that  appeared  is  both 
God  and  man.  llesuifeied  for  us  by  thy  permission, 
and  died,  and  rose  again  by  thy  power;  on  which  ac- 
count we  solemnly  asseml)le  to  celebrate  the  feast  of 
the  resurrection  on  the  Lord's-day,  and  rejoice  on  ac- 
count of  him  who  has  conquered  deatli,  and  has 
brought  life  and  immortality  to  light."  .  .  .  "Thou 
didst  enjoin  the  ol;servation  of  the  Sabbath,  not  af- 
fording them  an  occasion  of  idleness,  but  an  opiX)r- 
tunity  of  piety,  for  their  knowledge  of  thy  power, 
and  the  prohibition  of  evils,  having  limited  them  a« 
within  a  holy  circuit  for  the  sake  of  doctrine,  for  the 
rejoicing  upon  the  seventh  period.  ...  On  this  ac- 

*  Ante-Nicene  Lib.,  Vol.  17,  p.  18(5. 


SABBATH    AN  J)    SUNDAY.  179 

couut  be  perniitted  men  every  Sabbath  to  rest,  that 
80  no  one  might  be  willini>-  to  send  one  word  out  of 
his  mouth  in  anger  on  the  day  of  the  Sal)bath.  For 
the  Sabbatli  is  the  ceasing  of  the  creation,  the  com- 
pletion of  the  world,  the  inquiry  after  lavs,  and  the 
grateful  praise  to  God  for  blessings  he  has  bestowed 
upon  men.  All  which  the  Lord's-da}^  excels,  and 
shows  the  Mediator  himself,  the  Provider,  the  Law- 
giver, the  cause  of  the  resurrection,  the  First-born  of 
the  whole  crejitiou,  God  the  Word,  and  man,  who 
was  born  of  Mary  alone,  without  a  man,  who  lived 
holily,  who  was  crucified  under  Pontius  Pilate,  and 
died  and  rose  again  from  the  dead.  So  that  the  Lord's- 
day  commands  us  to  olfer  unto  thee  O  Lord,  thanksgiv- 
ing for  all.  For  this  is  the  grace  afforded  by  thee, 
which  on  account  of  its  greatness  has  obscured  all 
other  blessings."* 

Book  VIII,  chapter  33  presents  a  law  said  to  have 
Ijecu  made  by  the  apostles,  Peter  and  Paul,  in  the 
following  words: 

•'  I  Peter  and  Paul  do  make  the  following  Consti- 
tution, Let  the  slaves  work  live  days,  but  on  the 
Sabbath  and  the  Loid's-day  let  them'have  leisure  to 
go  to  church  for  instruction  in  piety.*  We  have  said 
that  the  Sabbath  is  on  account  of  creation,  and  the 
Lord's-day  of  the  resurrection.  Let  slaves  rest  from 
their  work  all  the  great  week,  and  that  which  fol- 
lows it  for  the  one  in  memory  of  the  passion,  and  the 
other  of  the  resurrection;  and  there  is  need  that  they 
should  be  instructed  who  it  is  that  suffered  and  rose 
again,  and  who  it  is  permitted  him  to  suffer,  and 
raised  him  again.  Let  them  rest  from  their  work  on 
the  ascension,  because  it  was  the  conclusion  of  the 
dispensation  l)y  Christ.  Let  them  rest  at  Pentecost 
because  of  the  coming  of  the  Holy  ^pirit,  which  was 
given  to  those  that  believed  in  Christ.     Let  them  rest 

*  Ante-Nicene  Lib.,  Vol.  17,  pp.  196-7. 


180  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

ou  the  festival  of  liis  birth,  because  on  it  tlie  unex- 
pected favor  was  granted  to  men,  that  Jtsus  Christ, 
the  Logos  of  God,  should  be  born  of  the  virgin  Mary, 
for  the  salvation  of  the  world.  Let  them  rest  on  the 
day  of  the  Epiphany,  because  on  it  a  manifestation 
took  place  of  the  divinity  of  Christ,  for  the  Father 
bore  testimony  to  him  at  the  baptism,  and  the  Para- 
clete, in  the  form  of  a  dove,  pointed  out  to  the  by- 
standers him  to  whom  testimony  was  borne.  Let 
them  rest  on  the  days  of  the  Apostles;  for  they 
were  appointed  your  teachers  [to  bring  you]  to  Christ, 
and  made  you  worthy  of  the  Spirit.  Let  them  rest, 
on  the  day  of  the  first  martyr,  Stephen,  and  of  the 
other  holy  martyrs  who  preferred  Christ  to  their  own 
lives."* 

When  we  are  told  that  Paul  and  Peter  wrote  in- 
taught  such  things  as  the  above,  we  can  easily  judge 
as  to  the  character  of  the  "  Constitutions"  in  point 
of  genuineness.  But  the  above  is  of  worth  as  indi- 
cating the  "array of  holidays,"  which  had  grown  up 
at  the  beginning  of  the  Dark  Ages.  Book  VIII 
closes  with, 

THE  ECCLESIASTICAL  CANONS  OF  THE  SAME  APOSTLEH. 

There  are  eighty-five  of  these.  They  treat  mainly  of 
the  duties  of  the  clergy.     The  64th  canon  says: 

' '  If  any  one  of  the  clergy  be  found  to  fast  on  the 
Lord's-day,  or  on  the  Sabbath-day,  excepting  one 
only,  let  him  be  deprived;  but  if  he  be  one  of  the 
laity,  let  him  be  suspended." 

The  69th  canon  says: 

"  If  any  bishop  or  presbyter,  or  deacon,  or  reader, 
or  singer,  does  not  fast  the  fast  of  forty  days,  or  the 
fourth  day  of  the  week,  and  the  day  of  the  prepara- 

*  Ante-Nicene  Lib..  Vol.  17.  pp.  246,  247. 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  181 

tion.  let  him  be  deprived,  except  he  be  hindered  by 
weakness  of  body.  But  if  he  be  one  of  the  laity,  let 
him  be  suspended." 

ANCIENT    SYRIAN  DOCUMENTS. 

A  group  of  Syrian  documents  "  attributed  to  the 
first  three  centuries,  presents  several  characteristics 
in  common  with  the  "  Constitutions  "  quoted  above. 
Neither  the  date  nor  the  authors  are  known.  One 
of  them  contains  the  correspondence  between  king 
Agbar  and  Christ,  which  is  so  manifestly  spurious  as 
to  provoke  rejection  rather  than  criticism.  The  doc- 
ument which  deals  with  the  Sabbath  and  Sunday 
question  is  equally  patent  as  a  forgery.  Its  tone 
is  of  the  fifth  century,  rather  than  the  third. 
The  document  claims  to  be  made  up  of  rules  laid 
down  by  the  apostles  while  under  the  influence  of 
the  Pentecostal  outpouring  of  the  Spirit.  After  a 
brief  preface  concerning  the  matter,  the  document 
opens  in  these  words: 

"And  by  the  same  gift  of  the  Spirit  which  was 
given  to  them  on  that  day,  they  appointed  Ordinances 
and  Laws,  such  as  were  in  accordance  with  the 
gospel  of  their  preaching,  and  with  the  true  and  faith- 
ful doctrine  of  their  preaching: — 

1.  "The  apostles  therefore  appointed:  Pray3'e  to- 
ward the  East,  '  because  as  the  lightning  which 
lighteneth  from  the  east  and  is  seen  even  to  the  west, 
so  shall  the  coming  of  the  Son  of  n.ian  be,  [which 
was  said]  that  l)y  this  we  might  know  and  under- 
stand that  he  will  appear  from  the  east  middenly." 

2.  "The  apostles  further  appointed:  On  the  first 
[dayj  of  the  week  let  there  be  service,  and  the  read- 
ing of  the  Hol)^  Scriptures,  and  the  ol)lation;  because 
on  the  first  day  of  the  week  our  Lord  rose  from  the 


182  SAIJIJATII     AND    SUNDAY. 

|)liic('  of  Mic  (Ic.'id,  iirul  on  the  first,  day  of  the  wrck 
lie  rose  upon  the  world,  jind  on  the  fiist  (hiy  of  the 
vve(^k  h(;  jiscHMuleil  up  to  lie!iv{!n,  and  on  the  first  day 
of  the  week  he  will  ai)pe!ir  at  last  with  the  anjLj^els  of 
Ilea  veil." 

;}."  The  apostles  furtluir  appointed:  On  tlie  fourth 
day  of  tile  wetik  let  there,  be  service;  because  on  that 
[day]  our  Lord  inadc;  the  disclosure  to  tliern  about 
his  trial  and  his  sulferini;',  and  his  crucifixion,  and 
his  death,  and  his  resurrection;  and  the  (lis<'ipl('s 
were  on  account  of  this  in  sorrow." 

4.  "  rii(!  apostles  further  appointed:  On  the  eve 
[of  the  Sabbath]  at  the  ninth  hour,  let  there  be  serv 
ic(!,  because  that  which  had  be(!n  spoken  on  the  fourth 
day  of  the  week  about  the  sulferin^  of  the  Saviour 
was  brouii,lit  to  pass  on  the  eve  [of  tlie  Sabbath]  the 
worlds  and  [all]  creatures  trembliuji!:,  and  the  lumi- 
naries in  the  heavens  being  darkened." 

■jfr  *  *  *  *  * 

(i.  "  The  apostles  further  appointed:  Cfilebrate  the 
day  of  the  Epiphany  of  our  Saviour,  which  i«  the 
chief  of  the  festivals  of  the  church,  on  the  sixth 
day  of  the  latter  Canon  in  the  long  number  of  the 
Grticks."* 

In  this  way  the  document  proceeds  with  twenty- 
seven  ordinances  on  all  sorts  of  subjects.  Evidently 
an  ordinance  was  forged  to  fit  every  notion  and  cus- 
tom, which  needed  support.  The  likeness  between 
many  of  these  ordinances  and  many  of  the  constitu- 
tions, is  very  marked.  It  was  a  similar  spirit  if  not 
the  same  liand  that  gave  utterance  to  them.  With 
such  tendencies  in  the  church,  such  a  mixture  of 
Pagan  and  Christian  and  Jewish  notions,  with  such 
dislionesty  in  forging  in  the  name  of  Christ  and  his 

*  Aiitc-NiceiH!  Lib.,  Vol.  20.  pp.  3H.  8!» 


SAliMATll     AND     SlNDAY.  183 

apostles,  with  the  Church  u.ul  8tale  united  und 
hence  the  church  much  corrupted,  tlie  world  was 
ripe  for  the  Dark  Ages  that  were  hurrying  on. 

There  are  incidental  notices  and  references  scattered 
over  the  period  hetween  Constantine  and  the  sixth 
century  which  show  that  the  Sabbath  was  a  day  ot 
regular  public  worship. 

Chrysostom,  abouttheyeur388  A.  D.  inhis  Hom- 
ilies on  the  Statues,"  says: 

' 'To-day,  and  on  the  former  Sabbath  it  had  be- 
hooved  us  to  enter  on  the  subject  of  fasting;  nor  let 
any  mie  suppose  that  what  f  say  would  have  been 
unseasonable."* 
Again  he  says  : 

-  There  are  many  of  us  now  who  fast  on  the  same 
day  a  the'  cws,  and  keep  the  SabbaUi  in  tlie  same 
iiuu) ler  .  .  For  though  lew  are  now  (urcumcised 
vriy  fasting  and  observing  the  Sabbath  with  the 
Jews  they  equally  exclude  themselves  irom  grace,  f 

On  page  238  of  the  same  volume,  Chrysostom  ear- 
nestly opposes  sun  worship  as  a  prevalent  evil,  thus 
showing  that  the  struggle  was  still  going  on,  and 
that  the  observance  still  continued  among  the  people 
in  spite  of  the  semi-pagan  theories  of  the  leaders, 
late  in  the  fourth  century.  Still  later  Augustine 
(died  480  A.  D.)  speaks  of  public  worship  on  the 
Sabbath,  as  follows: 

-  The  title  of  the  Psalm  is  '  Psalm  or  Song  for  the 
Sabbath-day.'  This  day  on  which  ^ -^^^'^^^J^ 
a  Sabbath-day.  which  the  Jews  iionor  by  an  exter- 
nal rest,  and  by  slothful  indulgence. 

~  *  Homily,  15.  ,  _    .., 

+  Homilies  on  Gal.  and  Eph.,  Lib.  of  the  l^'athers.  pp.  16,  4,- 


184  SABBATH     AND    SUNDAY. 

This  shows  that  the  practice  of  holding  services  on 
the  Sabbath  still  continued  in  spite  of  no- Sabbath 
theories,  during  the  first  half  of  the  fifth  century. 
In  another  place  Augustine  uses  the  following  lan- 
guage: 

"  The  Sabbath  is  the  seventh  day,  but  the  Lord's- 
day  coming  after  the  seventh  must  needs  be  ihe 
eighth,  and  is  also  reckoned  the  first.  For  it  is  called 
the  first  day  of  the  week,  and  so  from  it  are  reckoned 
the  third,  fourth  and  so  on  to  the  seventh  day  of  the 
week,  which  is  the  Sabbath."* 

Considering  the  facts  set  forth  in  this  chapter,  ig- 
norance alone  can  excuse  men  for  asserting  that  the 
Sabbath  was  unknown  in  the  early  church,  or  that 
it  was  not  observed  for  a  long  time  even  after  the 
Western  church  was  Romanized.  Indeed,  ignorance 
is  not  a  valid  excuse,  for  if  men  do  not  know  the 
facts  they  have  no  right  to  indulge  in  assertions. 
No  prominent  feature  of  apostolic  practice  continued 
in  the  apostatizing  church  longer  than  did  Sabbath- 
keeping. 

*  «hort  Treatise,  p.  .586. 


CHAPTER   XVII. 
Sunday    During   the  Dark 


A 


GES, 


Church-appoiuted  festivals  and  holy  dajs  had  be- 
come so  numerous  at  the  opening  of  the  sixth  cen- 
tury, that  some  new  influence  was  demanded  to  give 
them  iniDortance,  and  to  enforce  their  observance. 
This  end  was  sought  hy  claiming  an  analogy  between 
the  God-appointed  days  under  the  Jewish  dispensa- 
tion, and  the  church-appointed  days  under  the  gos- 
pel. It  was  assumed  that  the  church,  being  left  to 
legislate  for  herself,  had  power  to  appoint  and  en- 
force in  the  matter  of  holy  days,  as  God  had  done 
under  the  Mosaic  system.  The  people  I  ad  become  ac- 
customed to  yield,  in  unquestioning  obedience,  to  the 
dictation  of  the  church;  and  hence,  a  pharisaical 
churchocracy  was  the  more  easily  established.  Re- 
ligion was  made  to  consist  mainly  in  outward  forms 
and  ceremonies, — the  outgrowth  of  vague,  mystical, 
semi-pagan  notions  and  theories.  Sunday,  in  com- 
mon with  the  other  festivals,  shared  in  these  influen- 
ces; and  thus,  a  more  rigid  observance  of  it  began  to 
prevail.  Note  carefully  the  fact  that  there  was  no 
claim  that  the  Sunday  had  taken  the  place  of  the 
Sabbath,  by   any  change  or  transfer  of  the  fourth 


186  SABBATH    AND  SUNDAY. 

commandment;  it  was  only  by  analogy,  that  this 
pseudo-Sabbathism  was  introduced.  As  the  dark- 
ness of  the  Middle  Ages  increased,  ecclesiastical  for- 
malism grew  more  rigid  and  lifeless,  and  the  pre- 
vailing ignorance  and  superstition  became  more  gall- 
ing and  cruel.  Dr.  Hessey  groups  the  facts  togeth- 
er in  the  following  words: 

"But  a  more  serious  change  is  at  hand.  In  the 
centuries  ranging  from  the  sixth  to  the  fifteenth,  we 
find  civil  rulers  and  councils,  and  ecclesiastical  writ- 
ers by  degrees  altering  their  tone.  Holy  days  are 
multiplied  more  and  more.  Then,  as  the  church  has 
established  so  many  that  it  is  impossible  to  observe 
them  all,  and  as  her  authority,  from  being  exercised 
so  often  and  in  a  manner  so  difficult  to  be  complied 
with,  begins  to  be  thought  lightly  of,  holy  days  must 
be  distinguished,  and  some  sanction,  which  shall 
vividly  reach  the  conscience,  must  be  found  for  days 
of  special  obligation.  The  Old  Testament  has  been 
already  referred  to  for  the  analogy  of  many  of  her 
festivals.  The  step  from  analogy  to  identification  is 
not  a  startling  or  a  violent  one.  Thus,  a  gradual 
identification  of  the  Lord's-day  with  the  Sabbath  sets 
in.  This  naturally  leads  to  the  fourth  command- 
ment. The  fourth  commandment  once  thought  of, 
vexatious  restrictions  follow,  thwarting  men  in  their 
necessary  employments  or  enjoyments  by  an  appli- 
cation of  its  terms  either  strictly  literal  or  most  in- 
geniously refined.  Councils  condescend  to  notice 
whether  oxen  may  or  may  not  be  yoked  on  the  Lord's- 
day;  and  not  unfrequently  contradict  each  other. 
The  second  Council  of  Macon,  A.  D.  585,  enjoins 
'  that  no  one  should  allow  himself  on  the  Lord  s-day, 
under  plea  of  necessity,  to  pur  a  yoke  on  the  necks 
of  his  cattle;  but  all  bt-  occupied  with  mind  and  body 
in  the  hymns  and  praise  of  God.  For  this  is  the  day 
of  perpetual  rest;  i his  is  shadowed  out  to  us  by  the 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  18  7 

sevenlh  day  in  the  law  and  the  prophets.'  It  then 
goes  on  to  threaten  punishments  for  profanation  of 
the  holy  day,  either  by  pleading  causes  or  by  other 
works.  'Offenders  will  displease  God,'  and  besides 
will  draw  upon  themselvts  the  '  implacable  anger  of 
the  clergy.'  Lawyers  will  lose  their  privilege  of 
pleading  causes.  Clerks  or  monks  will  be  shut  out 
for  six  months  from  the  society  of  their  brethren. 
'  liiLsUcua  ant  xermis  (jraci"ri,bu'<  J'u.stiuiii  iciibns  ver 
bercbitur.'  Still,  even  in  this  Council,  there  is  a  rec- 
ognition of  the  true  origin  of  the  Lord's-day.  'Keep 
the  Lord's  day,  whereon  w^e  were  born  anew  and 
freed  from  all  sir.s.' 

"Things  go  on  much  in  this  way.  Clothaire, 
King  of  France,  issues  an  edict  prohibiting  all  servile 
labors  on  the  Lord's-day,—  assigning  as  a  reason, 
'  Q"Ui  lex  pro/iibtt,€t  suca  scripiara  in.  oninibiis  cou- 
iradic't/  .  .  .  In  the  East,  the  exemption  gram ed  to 
agricultural  labors  by  Constantine,  which  had  been 
embodied  in  the  code  of  Justinian,  was  repealed  by 
the  Emperor  Leo  Philosophus,  A.  D.  910,  who  ani- 
madverted in  somewhat  severe  terms  on  the  law  of 
his  great  predecessor.  .  .  . 

"  A  few  more  instances,  taken  almost  at  random, 
may  conclude  this  part  of  our  subject.  At  the  end 
of  the  eighth  century,  we  find  Alcuin  asserting 
that  the  observation  of  the  former  Sabbatb  had  been 
transferred  very  fitly  to  the  Lord's-day,  by  the  cus- 
tom and  consent  of  Christian  people.  ...  In  Eng- 
land again,  A.  D.  1201,  in  the  time  of  King  John, 
Eustace,  Abbot  of  Flay,  preaches  the  observance  of 
the  Lord's-day  with  a  strictness  eminently  Judaical, 
and  descending  to  the  most  ordinary  occupations. 
He  professes  to  confirm  his  doctrine  by  a  letter,  pur  - 
porting  to  be  from  our  Saviour,  and  miraculously 
found'on  the  altar  of  St.  Simeon  at  Golgotha.  Vari- 
ous apocryphal  judgments  overtook  persons  trans- 
gressing, in  the  slightest  degiee,  the  commands  set 
forth   in  this  document.     It  had  said  that  from  the 


188  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

ninth  hour  of  the  Sabbath  (Saturday)  to  sunrise  on 
Monday,  n  >  work  wti'^  to  be  done;  and  it  is  curious 
to  find  that  the  instances  of  punishment  seem  to 
cluster  about  the  profanation  of  the  later  hours  of 
Saturday.  At  length,  the  church,  almost  as  a  rule, 
though  still  asserting  that  the  Lord's-day  and  all  oth- 
er holy  days  \veie  of  ecclesiastical  instil ution  (not  in- 
deed in  Ihe  high  sense  of  that  word,  for  they  are  not 
de  Jure  Dwlno,  but  de  Jure  Humuno  Cunonico),  had 
erected  a  complete  Judaic  superstructure  upon  an 
ecclesiastical  foundation.  ,  .  .  The  most  perfect  de- 
velopment, however,  of  this  ecch^siastical  Sabbatari- 
anism is  displayed  by  Tostatus,  Bishop  of  Avila,  in 
the  fourteenth  centur}^  in  his  Commentary  on  the 
twelfth  chapter  of  Exodus.  .  .  ,  '  If  a  musician 
(says  Tostatus)  wait  upon  a  gentleman  to  recreate  his 
mind  with  music,  and  they  are  agreed  upon  certain 
wages,  or  he  be  only  hired  for  a  pr^^sent  time,  he  sins 
in  case  he  play  or  sing  to  him  on  holy  days  (includ- 
ing the  Lord's-day);  but  not,  if  his  reward  be  doubt- 
ful or  depend  ordy  on  the  bounty  of  the  parties  who 
enjoy  his  music'  '  A  cook  that,  on  the  holy  days, 
is  hired  to  make  a  feast  or  to  dress  a  dinner,  com- 
mits a  mortal  sin;'  but  not,  '  if  he  be  hired  by  the 
month  or  year.  Meat  may  be  dressed  upon  the 
Lord's-day  or  the  other  holy  days,  but  to  wash  dish- 
es on  those  days,  is  unlawful, — that  must  be  detei'- 
red  to  another  day.  A  man  that  travels  on  holy 
diys  to  any  special  shrine  or  saint,  commits  no  sin; 
but  he  commits  sin  if  he  returns  home  on  those  daA  s. 
Artificers  which  work  on  these  days  for  their  own 
profit  only,  are  in  mortal  sin,  unless  the  work  be  vei-y 
small  {quia  modicum  nori  fueit  solemnituteui  dissohri), 
because  a  small  thing  dishonoreth  not  the  festival. " 
But  I  forbear  to  pioceed  with  this  catalogue  of 
puerilities."* 

Heyl^'n  treats  very  fully  of  that  which  Dr.  Hessey 

*  Hessey,  Lectures  on  Sunday,  Lect.  3,  p.  87.  seq. 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 


189 


has  thus  outlined.  In  part  second  of  his  History  of 
the  Sabbath,  we  learn  that  the  Council  of  Macon,  un- 
der Gunthran,  king  of  Burgundy,  although  very 
strict  in  its  prohibitions,  still  acknowledges  that: 

"  The  Lord  does  not  exact  it  of  us,  that  we  should 
celebrate  this  day  in  corporeal  abstinence  or  rest  from 
labor  who  only  looks  that  w.  do  yield  obedience  to 
his  holy  will,  by  which,  contemning  earthly  things, 
he  may  conduct  us  to  the  heavens  of  his  infinite 
mercv  "  ' '  Yet  notwithstanding  these  restraints 

from  work' and  labor,  the  church  did  never  resolve  it 
that  any  work  was  in  itself  unlawful  on  the  Lord  s- 
dav  though  to  advance  God's  public  service  it  was 
thoiight  g?od  that  men  should  be  restrained  from 
some  kinds  o1  work,  that  so  they  might  better  attend 
their  prayers  and  follow  their  devotions.  * 

Speaking  of  the  close  of  the  sixth  century,  Heylyn 
adds: 

"  Yet  all  this  while,  we  find  not  any  one  who  did 
observe  it  as  a  Sabbath,  or  which  taught  others  so  to 
do-  not  any  who  affirmed  that  any  manner  of  vork 
was  unlawful  on  it,  further  than  as  it  was  prohibited 
bv  the  Prince  or  Prelate,  that  so  the  people  might  as- 
semble with  greater  comfort ;  not  any  one  who  preached 
or  published  that  any  pastime,  sport,  or  recreations 
of  an  honest  name,  such  as  were  lawful  on  the  other 
days,  were  not  fit  for  this."  .  .  "  I  note  it  only  for 
the  close,  that  it  was  near  nine  hundred  years  tiom 
our  Saviour's  birth,  if  not  quite  so  much,  before  re- 
straint from  husbandry  had  been  first  thought  of  in 
the  East;  and  probably  being  thus  restrained,  did 
find  no  more  obedience  there  than  it  h^d  done  before 
in  the  Western  part."t 

Heylyn  goes  on  to  show  that  much  of  the  rigidity 

*  Chapter  4,  sec.  7.  +  Chapter  4,  sec.  12. 


100  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

concerning  Sunday  observance,  existed  only  in  tJieo 
riex  and  laws.  In  confirmation  of  which,  he  cites  the 
following: 

"Nor  were  these  reservations  and  exceptions  only 
in  point  of  business,  and  nothing  found  in  point  of 
practice;  but  there  are  many  instances,  especially  of 
the  greatest  persons,  and  most  public  actions  left  up- 
on record,  to  let  us  know  what  liberty  they  assumed 
unto  themselves  as  well  on  this  day,  as  on  the  rest. 
And  such  only  shall  I  instance  as  being  most  exem- 
plary, and  therefore  conducing  most  to  my  present 
purpose.  And,  first,  we  read  of  a  great  battle  fought 
on  Palm  Sunday,  Anno  718,  between  Charles  .Vl  artel, 
Grand  Master  of  the  household  of  the  King  of  France, 
and  tlilpericus  the  King  himself,  wherein  the  victory 
fell  to  (  harles.  .  .  .  Upon  the  Sunday  before  Lent, 
Anno  885,  Ludovick  the  Emperor,  surnamed  Pius, 
or  the  godly,  together  with  his  prelates  and  others, 
which  had  been  present  with  him  at  the  assembly 
held  at  Thionville,  went  on  his  journey  unto  Metz, 
nor  do  we  find  that  it  did  derogate  at  all  from  his 
name  and  piety.  Upon  the  Sundaj'^  after  Whitsun- 
tide, Anno  844,  Ludowic,  son  unto  Lotharius  the 
Emperor,  made  his  solemn  entrance  into  Pome,  the 
Roman  citizens  attending  him  with  their  fiags  and 
ensigns,  the  pope  and  clergy  staying  his  coming  in 
St.  Peter's  Church,  there  to'entertain  him.  Upon  a 
>unday.  Anno  1014,  Henry  the  Emperor,  environed 
with  twelve  of  the  Roman  Senators,  came  to  St. 
Peter's  Church,  and  there  was  crowned,  together 
with  his  wife  by  the  i^ope  then  being.  On  Easter 
d;iy,  Conrad  the  Emperor  was  solemnly  inaugurated 
by  Pope  John, — Canute  King  of  England,  and  Ro- 
dolph  King  of  the  Burgundians,  being  then  both 
present:  and  the  next  bunday  after,  began  his  jour- 
ney towards  Germany.  .  .  .'  On  Passion  Siuiday, 
Anno  1148,  Lewis  the' King  of  France,  afterwards 
c  ir.onized  for  a  saint,  made  his  first  entry  into  Jeru- 


SABBATH     AND    SUNDAY.  191 

salem  with  his  army.  .  .  .  What  should  I  speak  of 
councils  on  this  day  assembled,  as  that  of  Charles, 
Tours,  Anno  1146,  for  the  recovery  of  the  Holy 
Land;  and  of  on  Trinity  Sunday,  as  we  call  it  now, 
Anno  1164,  aijaiust  Octavian  the  pseudo-pope;  that 
of  Ferr£era,  upon  Passion  Sunday,  Anno  1177,  against 
Frederick  the  Emperor;  or  that  of  l^aris,  Anno  1226, 
summoned  by  Stephen,  th^^n  Bishop  there,  on  the 
fourth  Sunday  in  Lent,  for  the  condemning  of  cer- 
tain dangerous  and  erroneous  positions  then  on  foot. 
I  have  the  rather  instanced  in  these  particulars,  part- 
ly because  the}'  happened  about  these  times,  when 
Prince  and  Prelate  were  more  and  more  intent  on  lay- 
ing restraints  upon  their  people,  for  the  mere  honor 
of  this  day,  and  partly  because,  being  all  of  them 
public  actions,  and  such  as  move  not  forward  but  by 
divers  wheels,  they  did  require  a  greater  number  of 
people  to  attend  them."* 

All  these  things  accord  with  the  spirit  of  an  age  in 
which  religion  was  a  form,  and  men  were  strict  only 
in  theory.  In  another  place,  Hejdyn  corroborates 
the  statements,  that  Sunday  was  reverenced  no  more 
than  many  other  holy  days  were,  and  upon  the  same 
ground,  church  appointment.  An  example  or  two 
will  suffice: 

"  Photius,  the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople,  Anno 
858,  thus  reckoneth  up  the  festivals  of  especial  note; 
viz.,  seven  days  before  Easter,  and  seven  afier  (  Lrist- 
m^s,  the  feasts  of  ihe  apostles,  and  the  Lord's-day; 
and,  then,  he  adds  that  on  those  days  they  suffer 
neither  public  shows  nor  courts  of  justice.  Emanuel 
Comnenus,  next  Emperor  of  Constantinople,  Anno 
1174:  '  We  do  ordain,'  saith  he,  'that  ihese  days  fol- 
lowing be  exempt  from  labor;' viz.,  the  nativit}^  ol 
the  Virgin  Mary  (and  so  he  reckoneth  all  the  rest  in 

*  Hist,  of  Sab.,  part  5,  chap.  2,  sec.  9. 


192  SABBATH     AND    SUNDAY. 

those  parts  observed),  together  with  all  Sundays  in 
the  year;  and  that  in  them  there  be  no  access  to  tlie 
seats  of  judgment.  .  .  .  Now,  lest  the  feast  of 
Whitsuntide  might  not  have  some  respect  as  well 
as  Easter,  it  was  determined  in  the  council  held  at 
Engelheim,  Anno  948,  that  Monday,  Tuesday,  and 
Wednesday  in  Whitsunweek,  should  no  less  solemnly 
be  observed  than  the  Sunday  was,"* 

Morer,  speaking  of  the  question  in  the  sixth  cen 
tury,  says: 

"  Under  Clodoveus  [Clovis],  king  of  France,  the 
bishops  met  in  the  first  Council  of  Orleans  (A.  D. 
507),  where  they  obliged  themselves  and  their  sue 
cessors  to  be  always  at  the  church  on  the  Lord's-day, 
except  in  case  of  sickness  or  some  great  infirmity. 
And  because  they,  with  some  other  of  the  clergy  in 
those  days,  took  cognizance  of  judicial  matters,  there 
fore  ])y  a  Council  at  Arragon,  about  the  year  518,  in 
the  reign  of  Theodoric,  king  of  the  Goths,  it  was  de- 
creed, that  '  No  bishop  or  other  person  in  holy  orders 
should  examine  or  pass  judgment  in  any  civil  con- 
troversy on  the  Lord's-day. '  "f 

The  third  Council  of  Orleans  was  held  A.  D.  538; 
and  Hengstenberg,  speaking  of  its  action,  says: 

"  The  third  Council  of  Orleans  says,  in  its  twenty- 
ninth  canon :  '  The  opinion  is  spreading  among  the 
people,  that  it  is  wrong  to  ride,  or  drive,  or  cook 
food,  or  do  anything  to  the  house  or  the  person,  on 
the  Sunday.  But  since  such  opinions  are  more  Jew- 
ish than  Christian,  that  shall  be  lawful  in  the  future 
which  has  been  so  to  the  present  time.  On  the  other 
hand,  agricultural  labor  ought  to  be  laid  aside,  in 
order  that  the  people  may  not  be  prevented  from  at 
tending  church.":): 

*  Chapter  4,  sec.  12. 

t  Dialogues  on  the  Lord's-day,  pp.  263,  264. 

t  Hengstenberg,  On  the  Lord's-day,  p.  .58. 


SABBATH    AND    SUXDAY.  193 

This  recognizes  the  well-kuowii  fact,  that  the  per- 
mission granted  to  agricultural  labor  by  the  first  law 
of  Constantine,  continued  for  many  centuries.  About 
the  middle  of  the  seventh  century,  further  action 
was  found  necessary,  which  is  related  by  Morer,  as 
follows: 

"  At  Chalons,  a  city  in  Burgundy,  about  the  year 
654,  tliere  was  a  provincial  synod  which  confirmed 
what  had  been  done,  by  the  third  Council  of  Orleans, 
about  the  observation  of  the  Lord's-da}^  namely, 
that  none  should  plow  or  reap,  or  do  anything  be- 
longing to  husbandry,  on  pain  of  the  censure  of  the 
church,  which  was  the  more  minded,  because  backed 
with  the  secular  power,  and  by  an  edict  menacing 
such  as  offended  herein;  who,  if  bondmen,  were  to 
be  soundly  beaten;  but  if  free,  had  three  admonitions, 
and  then  if  faulty,  lost  the  third  part  of  their  patri- 
mony, and  if  still  obstinate,  were  made  slaves  for 
the  future.  And  in  the  first  year  of  Eriugius,  about 
the  time  of  Pope  Agatho,  there  sat  the  twelfth  Coun- 
cil of  Toledo,  in  Spain,  A.  D.  681;  where  the  Jews 
were  forbidden  to  keep  their  own  festivals,  but  so 
far  at  least  to  observe  the  Lord's-day  as  to  do  no 
manner  of  work  on  it,  whereby  they  might  express 
their  contempt  of  Christ  or  his  worship."  * 

Sunday  appears  first  on  the  statute-books  of  Eng- 
land, about  the  close  of  the  seventh  century.  In  the 
year  693,  Ino,  king  of  the  West  Saxons,  ordered  that, 

"If  a  servant  do  any  work  on  Sunday  by  his 
master's  order,  he  shall  be  free,  and  the  master  shall 
pay  thirty  shillings.  But  if  he  went  to  work  on  his 
own  head,  he  shall  either  be  beaten  with  stripes,  or 
shall  ransom  himself  with  a  price.     A  freeman,  if  he 

*  Dialogues  on  the  Lord's-day,  p.  267. 
(13) 


194  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

works  on  Ibis  day,  shall  lose  his  freedom  or  pay  sixty 
shillings;  if  he  be  a  priest,  double.''  ^ 

In  A.  D.  747,  under  Egbert,  king  of  Kent,  hy  a 
council  of  the  clergy, 

"It  was  ordered  that  the  Lord's-day  be  celebrated 
with  due  veneration,  and  wholly  devoted  to  the 
worship  of  God.  And  that  all  abbots  and  priests,  on 
this  most  holy  day,  remain  in  their  respt  ctive  mon- 
asteries and  churches,  and  there  do  their  duty  ac- 
cording to  their  places."  f 

Forty  years  later,  Egbert,  ai'chbishop  of  York,  to 
show  positively  what  was  to  be  done  on  Sunday,  and 
what  the  laws  designed  by  prohibiting  ordinary  work 
to  be  done  on  such  days,  made  this  canon: 

"  Let  nothing  else  be  done  on  the  Lord's-day,  but 
to  attend  on  God  in  hymns,  and  psalms,  and  spirit- 
ual songs.  AVhoever  marries  on  Sunday,  let  him  do 
penance  for  seven  days.":}: 

But  mere  decrees  of  councils  and  emperors,  did 
not  suffice.  Men  heard  more  than  they  heeded.  Re- 
course was,  therefore,  had  to  the  universal  weapons 
of  ignorant  and  bigoted  men;  and  the  argument  of 
"Divine  Providence"  was  brought  to  bear  with 
evident  effect.  The  same  is  used  to-day  by  many 
who  would  feel  greatly  wrongedif  they  were  charged 
with  ignorance  and  bigotry. 

At  a  provincial  council  held  in  Par's,  A.  D.  829, 
the  prelates  complained  that  people  disregarded  the 
canons  relative  to  Sunday,  and  asserted  that  this  was 

*  Morer,  Dialogues  on  the  Lord's-day,  p.  283, 

+  Morer,  Dialogues,  etc  p.  2b4- 

t  Ibid,  p.  284. 


SABBATH    A  XI)    8LNI)AV.  195 

the  reasou  why  God  had  sent  some  very  remarkuble 
and  terrible  judgments  upon  men: 

"For,  say  they,  many  of  us  by  our  own  knowl- 
edge, and  some  by  hearsay,  know  that  several  coun- 
trymen, following  iheh-  husbandry  on  this  day,  have 
been  killed  with  lightning;  others  being  seized  with 
convulsions  in  their  joints,  have  miserably  perished. 
Whereby,  it  is  apparent  how  high  the  dispUasiire  of 
God  was  upon  their  neglect  of  this  day.  And,  at 
hist,  they  conclude  that,  'in  thelirstplace,  the  priests 
and  ministers,  then  kings  and  princes,  and  all  faith- 
ful people  be  beseeched  to  use  their  utmost  endeav- 
ors and  care,  that  the  day  be  restored  to  its  honor, 
and,  for  the  credit  of  Christianity,  more  devoutly 
observed  for  the  time  to  come.'  "* 

Local  councils  and  decrees  proved  insufficient,  even 
when  supported  by  such  appeals  to  fear;  and,  at 
length,  in  A.  D.  853,  a  Synod  was  held  at  Home,  un- 
der Pope  Leo  IV.,  which  took  the  following  action: 

"It  was  ordered  more  precisely  than  informer 
times,  that  no  man  should  henceforth,  dare  to  make 
any  markets  on  the  Lord's-day;  no,  not  for  things 
that  were  to  eat,  neither  to  do  any  kind  of  Avork 
which  belonged  to  husbandry.  Which  canon,  being 
made  at  Home,  confirmed  at  Compiegue,  and  after- 
wards incorporated,  as  it  was,  into  the  body  of  the 
canon  law,  became  to  be  admitted,  without  further 
(piestion.  in  most  parts  of  Christendom;  especially 
when  the  popes  had  attained  their  height,  and  brought 
all  Christian  princes  to  be  at  their  devotion.  For 
then  the  people,  Avho  before  had  most  opposed  it, 
might  have  justly  said,  '  Behold,  two  kings  stood 
not  before  him,  how  then  shall  we  stand?'  Out  of 
which  consternation  all  men  presently  obeyed,  trades- 

*  Morer,  Uialogaies,  etc..  p.  271;  also,  Ileylyn,  His.  of  Sab. 
part.  2,  chap.  8,  sec.  T. 


I'.lfi  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

ineu  of  all  sorts  being  broueht  to  lay  by  their  labors; 
and  amongst  those,  the  miller,  who,  though  his  work 
was  easiest,  and  least  of  all  required  his  presence."* 

On  the  establishment  of  the  Saxon  Heptarchy  in 
England.  Alfred  the  Great  (A.  I).  876)  took  care  to 
protect  Sunday.     Morer  says: 

' '  It  was  not  the  least  part  of  his  care  to  make  a 
law  that,  among  other  festivals,  this  day  more  espe- 
cially might  be  solemnly  kept,  because,  it  was  the  day 
whereon  our  Saviour  Christ  overcame  the  devil.  .  .  . 
And  whereas,  before  the  single  punishment  for  sac- 
rilege committed  on  any  other  day,  was  to  restore 
the  value  of  ihe  thing  stolen,  and  withal  lose  one 
hand,  he  added  that  if  any  person  was  found  guilty 
of  this  crime  done  on  the  Lord's-day,  he  should  be 
doubly  punished,"  f 

Once  begun,  the  work  of  excessive  legislation 
found  ready  acceptance.  These  laws  were  added  to, 
in  one  form  or  another,  under  Athelstan,  A.  D.  928; 
and  again,  in  943,  under  the  order  of  Otho,  arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury.  In  A.  D.  967,  Edgar  "com- 
manded that  the  festival  should  be  kept  from  three 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon  on  Saturday,  until  the  dawn 
of  day  on  Monday."  And  under  Ethelred,  A.  D. 
1009,  the  demand  for  strict  observance  was  renewed. 
In  Norway  the  same  tendency  prevailed.  Heylyn  | 
relates  the  story  of  pious  king  Olaus,  in  the  year 
1028,  who,  in  absent  mindedness,  having  whittled  a 
stick  on  Sunday,  and  being  told  that  he  had  thereby 
trespassed  upon  the  sanctit}^  of  Sunday,  gathered  the 

*  Morer,  Dialogues,  etc.,  p.  272;  Heylyn,  Hist.  Sab.,  part  2, 
chap.  .5,  i-eo.  7. 

+  Dialogues,  etc.,  pp.  284,  285. 
i  Hist,  of  Sab.,  part  2,  chap.  5,  sec.  2. 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  19T 

chips,  and  set  tire  to  them  iu  his  hand,  tluit  he  might 
punish  himself  for  breaking  God's  commandment. 
But  the  crowning  act  of  impious  nonsense  remains 
to  be  noticed.  In  the  year  A.  D.  1200,  one  Eustace. 
an  abbot,  came  from  Normandy  to  preach  in  Eng- 
land, who  also  performed  many  miracles.  He  in- 
veighed against  the  desecration  of  Sunday,  but  was 
evidently  met  by  the  reply  that  there  was  no  com- 
mandment from  God  for  its  observance.  Returning 
to  the  continent,  he  remained  for  a  time;  and  in  1201, 
came  back  to  England,  armed  with  a  document 
which  was  most  befitting  to  his  purposes.  It  is 
worth  the  room  it  takes  in  our  pages,  as  a  curiosity, 
although  it  offers  a  sad  commentary  upon  the  hon- 
esty of  the  times  which  could  produce  such  a  forgery, 
and  upon  the  credulity  of  the  people  who  could  ac- 
cept it.  The  following  account  of  the  the  transac- 
tion is  from  a  contemporary  author: 

"  In  the  same  year  (1201),  Eustace,  Abbot  of  Flay, 
returned  to  England,  and  preaching  therein  the  Word 
of  the  Lord  from  city  to  city,  and  from  place  to 
place,  forbade  any  person  to  hold  a  market  of  goods 
on  sale  upon  the  Lords-day.  For  he  said  that  the 
commandment  underwritten,  as  to  the  observance  of 
the   Lord's-day,    had  come  down  from  heaven :  the 

HOLY  COMMANDMENT  AS    TO  THE    LORD'S  DAY,  wllich 

came  from  heaven  to  Jerusalem,  and  was  found  up- 
on the  altar  of  Saint  Simeon,  in  Golgotha,  where 
Christ  was  crucified  for  the  sins  of  the  world.  The 
Lord  sent  down  this  epistle,  which  was  found  upon 
the  altar  of  Saint  Simeon;  and,  after  looking  upon 
which  three  days  and  three  nights,  some  men  fell 
upon  the  earth,  "imploring  mercy  of  God.  And  after 
the  third  hour,  the  patriarch  arose,  and  Acharius  the 


Ilt8  SAIJBATH     AND    SUNDAY. 

Archbishop,  and  they  opened  the  scroll,  and  received 
the  holy  epistle  from  God;  and  when  they  had  taken 
the  same,  they  found  this  writing  therein: 

"  '  I  am  the  Lord,  who  commanded  you  to  ob- 
serve the  holy  day  of  the  Lord,  and  ye  have  not  kept 
it;  and  have  not  repented  of  your  sins,  as  I  have  said 
in  my  gospel,  "Heaven  and  earth  shall  pa^S  away, 
but  my  words  shall  not  pass  away."  Whereas,  1 
caused  to  be  preached  unto  you  repentance  and 
amendment  of  life,  you  did  not  believe  me,  I  have 
sent  against  you  the  Pagans,  who  have  shed  your 
blood  on  the  earth;  and  yet  you  have  not  believed; 
and,  because  you  did  not  keep  the  Lord's-day  holy, 
for  a  few  days  you  suffered  hunger,  but  soon  I  gave 
you  fullness,  and  after  that  jou  did  still  worse  again. 
Once  more,  it  is  my  will  that  no  one,  from  the  ninth 
hour  on  Saturday  until  sunrise  on  Monday,  shall  do 
any  work,  except  that  which  is  good. 

"  '  And  if  any  person  shall  do  so,  he  shall,  with 
penance,  make  amends  for  the  same.  And  if  you  do 
not  pay  obedience  to  this  command,  verily,  I  say  un- 
to you,  and  I  swear  unto  you,  by  my  seat,  and  by 
my  throne,  and  by  the  cherubim  who  watch  my  holy 
seat,  that  I  will  give  you  my  commands  by  no  other 
epistle;  but  I  will  open  the  heavens,  and  for  rain  I 
will  rain  upon  you  stones,  and  w^ood,  and  hot  water,  in 
the  night,  that  no  one  may  take  precautions  against 
the  same,  and  that  so  I  may  destroy  all  wicked  men. 

"  '  This  do  I  say  unto  you:  for  the  Lord's  holy 
day,  you  shall  die  the  death,  and  for  the  other  festi- 
vals of  my  saints  which  you  have  not  kept,  I  will 
send  vmto  you  beasts  that  have  the  heads  of  lions, 
the  hair  of  women,  the  tails  of  camels;  and  they  shall 
be  so  ravenous  that  they  shall  devour  your  flesh,  and 
you  shall  long  to  flee  away  to  the  tombs  of  the  dead, 
and  to  hide  yourselves  for  fear  of  the  beasts;  and  I 
will  take  away  the  light  of  the  sun  from  before  your 
eyes,  and  will  send  darkness  upon  you.  that,  not 
seeing,  you  may  slay  one  another,  and  that  1  may  re- 


SABBATH    AXD    SUNDAY.  199 

move  from  you  my  face,  and  may  not  show  mercy 
upon  you.  For  I  will  burn  the  bodies  and  the  hearts 
of  you,  and  of  all  those  who  do  not  keep  as  holy  the 
day  of  the  Lord. 

"  '  Hear  ye  my  voice,  that  so  ye  may  not  perish  in 
the  land,  for  the  holy  day  of  the  Lord.  Depart  from 
evil,  and  show  repentance  for  your  sins.  For,  if 
you  do  not  do  so,  even  as  Sodom  and  Gomorrah, 
shall  you  perish.  Now,  know  ye,  that  you  arc  saved 
by  the  prayers  of  my  most  holy  mother,  Mary,  and 
of  my  most  holy  angels,  who  pray  for  you  daily.  I 
have  given  unto  you  wheat  and  wine  in  abundance; 
and  for  the  same  ye  have  not  obeyed  me.  For  the 
widows  and  orphans  cry  unto  you  daily,  and  unto 
them  you  show  no  mercy.  The  Pagans  shoAV  mercy, 
but  you  show  none  at  all.  The  trees  which  bear 
fruit,"^  1  will  cause  to  be  dried  up  for  your  sins;  the 
rivers  and  the  fountains  shall  not  give  water. 

"  'I  gave  unto  you  a  law  in  Mount  Sinai,  which 
you  have  not  kept;  I  gave  you  a  law  with  mine  own 
hands,  which  you  have  not  observed.  For  you  I 
was  born  into  the  world,  and  my  festive  day  ye  know 
not.  Being  wicked  men,  ye  have  not  kept  the  Lord's- 
day  of  my  resurrection.  By  my  right  hand  I  swear 
unto  you.  that  if  you  do  not  observe  the  Lord's-day, 
and  fhe  festivals  of  my  saints,  I  will  send  unto  you 
the  Pagan  nations  that  they  may  slay  you.  And  still 
do  you  attend  to  the  business  of  others,  and  take  no 
consideration  of  thi.-,  ?  For  this  will  I  send  against 
you  still  worse  beasts,  who  shall  devour  the  breasts 
of  your  women.  I  will  curse  those  who,  on  the  Lord's- 
day,  have  wrought  evil.'  "  * 

This  farce  was  carried  out  in  a  befitting  manner  by 
pretended  miracles,  which  attended  disobedience  to 
this  "  heavenly  "  mandate.     These  seem  to  cluster 

*  Roger  de  Hoveden,  Annals,  Vol.  2,  pp.  526-528  Bohn's 
Edition. 


200  SABBATH     AND    SUNDAY. 

around  the  later  hours  of  the  Sabbath,  rather  than 
the  hours  of  Sunda}\  These  are  recounted  as  fol 
lows: 

"On  Saturday,  a  certain  carpenter  of  Beverly, 
who,  after  the  ninth  hour  of  the  day,  was,  contrary 
to  the  wholesome  advice  of  his  wife,  making  a  wood- 
en wedge,  fell  to  the  earth,  being  struck  with  paral- 
ysis. A  woman  also,  aAveaver,  who,  after  the  ninth 
hour  on  Saturday,  in  her  anxiet}'  to  finish  a  part  of 
the  web,  presisted  in  so  doing,  fell  to  the  ground, 
struck  with  paral3'sis,  and  lost  hfer  voice.  At  Raf- 
ferton  also,  a  vill  belonging  to  Master  Roger  Arundel, 
a  man  made  for  himself  a  loaf  and  baked  it  under 
the  ashes,  after  the  ninth  hour  on  Saturday,  and  ate 
thereof,  and  put  part  of  it  by  till  the  morning;  but 
when  he  broke  it  on  the  Lord's  day,  blood  started 
forth  there  irom;  and  he  who  saw  it  bore  witness, 
and  his  testimony  is  true. 

"  At  Wakefield  also,  one  Saturday,  while  a  miller 
was,  after  the  ninth  hour,  attending  to  grinding  his 
corn,  there  suddenlj^  came  forth,  instead  of  tiour, 
such  a  torrent  of  blood,  that  the  vessel,  placed  beneath, 
was  uearl}^  filled  with  blood,  and  the  mill-wheel  stood 
immovable,  in  spite  of  the  sirong  rush  of  the  water; 
and  t  hose  who  beheld  it  wondered  thereat,  saying, 
'  Spare  us,  oh  Lord,  spare  thy  people.' 

"Also  in  Lincolnshire,  a  women  had  prepared 
some  dough,  and,  taking  it  to  the  oven  after  the  ninth 
hour  on  Saturday,  she  placed  it  in  the  oven,  which  was 
then  at  a  very  great  heat;  but  when  she  took  it  out 
she  found  it  raw,  on  which  she  again  put  it  into  the 
oven,  which  was  very  hot;  and  both  on  the  next  day 
and  on  Alondaj',  when  she  supposed  that  she  should 
find  the  loaves  baked,  she  found  raw  dough. 

"  In  the  same  country  also,  when  a  certain  wom- 
an had  prepared  her  dough,  intending  to  carry  it  to 
the  oven,  her  husband  said  to  her,  '  It  is  Saturday, 
and  it  is  now  past  the  ninth  hour,  put  it  aside  until 


SABBATH    AND     SUNDAY.  201 

Monda}^; '  on  which  the  woman,  obeying  her  husband, 
did  as  he  commanded;  and  so,  having  covered  over 
the  dough  with  a  linen  cloth,  on  coming  the  next 
day  to  look  at  the  dough,  to  see  whether  it  had  not, 
in  rising,  through  the  yeast  that  was  in  it,  gone  over 
the  sides  of  the  vessel,  she  found  there  the  loaves 
ready  made  by  the  divine  will,  and  well  baked,  with- 
out any  tire  of  the  material  of  this  world.  This  was 
a  change  wrought  by  the  right  hand  of  him  on 
high."  * 

One  more  specimen  of  this  blasphemous  nonsense 
must  suffice.  It  is  from  another  contemporary  work. 
The  pretended  miracle  is  as  follows: 

"  About  this  time,  a  certain  woman  of  the  county 
of  Norfolk,  despite  the  warnings  of  this  man  of  God 
[i.  e. ,  Eustace),  went  one  day  \o  wash  clothes  after 
three  o'clock  on  Saturday;  and  while  she  was  busily 
at  work,  a  man  of  venerr  '.Ae  appearance,  unknown 
to  her,  approached  her,  and  reproachingl}'  inquired 
the  reason  of  her  rashness  in  thus  daring,  after  the 
prohibition  of  the  man  of  God,  to  wash  clothes  after 
three  o'clock;  and  thus  by  unlawful  work,  profane 
the  holy  Sabbath-day.  He,  moreover,  added  that 
unless  she  at  once  desisted  from  her  work  she  would, 
without  doubt,  incur  the  anger  of  God,  and  the 
vengeance  of  heaven.  But  she,  in  ansAver  to  his  re- 
buke, pleaded  urgent  poverty,  and  said  that  she  had 
till  then  dragged  on  a  wretched  life  by  toil  of  that 
kind;  and  that  if  she  should  desist  from  her  accus- 
tomed labor,  she  doubted  her  ability  to  procure  the 
means  of  subsistence.  After  a  while  the  man  van- 
ished suddenl}^  from  her  presence,  and  she  renewed 
her  labor  of  washing  the  clothes,  and  drying  them 
in  the  sun,  with  more  energy  than  before.  15ut  for 
all  this,  the  vengeance  of  God  was  not  wanting:  for, 

*  Hoveden,  Vol.  2,  pp.  5-29,  530. 


202  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

on  the  spot,  a  kind  of  small  pig,  of  a  black  color, 
suddenly  adhered  to  the  woman's  left  breast,  and 
could  not  by  any  effort  be  toin  away;  but,  by  con- 
tinual sucking,  drew  blood,  and,  in  a  short  time,  al- 
most consumed  all  the  bodily  strength  of  the  wom- 
an. At  length,  being  reduced  to  the  greatest  neces- 
sity, she  was  compelled,  for  a  long  time,  to  beg  her 
bread  from  door  to  door,  until,  in  ihe  sight  of  many 
who  wondered  at  the  vengeance  of  God,  she  termi- 
nated her  wretched  life  by  a  miserable  death."  * 

In  such  foolish  forgeries,  such  impious  nonsense, 
did  the  Sunday  Sabbat liism  of  the  Dark  Ages  culmi- 
nate. Two  or  three  years  later,  in  1203,  this  same 
"  Roll  from  heaven  "  was  produced  at  a  council  held 
in  Scotland,  under  Pope  Innocent  III,  and  King 
William,  in  order  to  further  the  sacred  observance 
of  Saints'  days  and  Sundays  in  that  kingdom.  It  is 
difhcult  to  believe  that  such  a  state  of  things  could 
have  existed  among  our  ancestors,  six  hundred  years 
ago.  But  the  facts  are  so  well  vouched  for  by  tlie 
contemporary  historians  above  quoted,  and  by  all  the 
representative  writers  on  the  Sunday  question  at  the 
present  time,  that  there  is  no  chance  to  doubt  them, 
though  we  might  wish  that  the  sad  truth  were  only 
a  fraudulent  joke  of  some  irresponsible  scribbler. 
In  addition  to  the  authorities  already  quoted,  the 
curious  reader,  who  wishes  to  pursue  the  case  further, 
will  find  the  "Roll "and  the  pretended  judgments 
referred  to  by  the  following  writers: — Binnius,  Goim- 
cils,  Vol.    3,  pp.  1448,  1449;  Sir  David  Dalrymple, 

*Rofferde  Hoveden,  Chronicles,  or  Flowers  of  History; 
formcrlv  ascribed  to  Matthew  Paris,  Vol.  2,  pp.  18&-192,  Lon- 
don, 1849 


SABBATH     AND     SUNDAY.  20o 

Historical  MemoriaU,  pp.  7,  8,  Edition  1769;  Heylyu, 
History  of  the  Sabbath •,l{essej,  On  Sunday;  Gilfillan. 
Sunday;  Cox,  Sabbath  Literature;  J.  N.  Andrews, 
History  of  the  Sabbath;  and  otlier  modern  writers. 
The  same  "  Roll,"  in  a  slightly  modified  form,  figures 
in  the  history  of  the  Sabbath  question  among  the 
Armenians. 

Many  pages  more  might  be  filled  with  similar 
theories,  decrees,  and  laws,  which  found  expression 
between  the  close  of  the  fifth  century  and  the  Refor- 
mation. But  the  case  does  not  demand  it.  To  quote 
more,  would  only  reiterate  what  has  been  already 
given.  We,  therefore,  proceed  to  sum  up  the  case: 
From  the  opening  of  the  sixth  century  forward, 
there  was  increasing  formality  and  much  Phariseeism 
in  the  matter  of  holy  days.  Their  appointment  and 
the  manner  of  their  observance  was  placed  on  nc 
other  ground  than  church  authority,  the  "custon: 
and  consent  "  of  Christian  people.  The  Old  Testa 
ment  was  appealed  to,  not  as  direct  authority,  but  on 
analogical  grounds.  The  reasons  given  for  the  ob- 
servance of  the  Sunday  are  vague  and  varied.  Some  - 
times,  the  Sabbath  was  said  to  foreshadow  the  Sun- 
day; sometimes,  circumcision  was  made  to  do  a  likj 
duty.  By  some,  the  reason  for  its  appointment  wa5 
found  in  the  fact  that  it  was  the  first  day  of  creation ; 
by  others,  that  it  was  the  day  of  the  Saviour's  resur- 
rection. This  last  is  the  general  reascn;  but  some  or 
all  of  the  others  are  usually  associated  with  it,  tQ 
strengthen  it.  There  is  more  or  less  talk,  in  a  loose 
way,  concerning  the  example  of  the  apostles  and  the; 


204  SABBATH    AND     SUi^^DAY. 

early  church.  But  this  argument  is  used  with  equal 
freedom  in  support  of  many  other  holy  days,  and  of 
practices  which  all  agree  are  Mdiolly  without  such 
authority.  Such  were  the  better  and  more  sensible 
reasons.  The  more  senseless  and  superstitious  ones, 
as  we  have  seen,  were  brought  in  to  do  what  the 
others  failed  to  accomplish.  The  whole  picture  is 
one  eminentlj^  in  accord  with  the  Dark  Ages. 

The  Sunday  had  no  prominence  over  many  other 
church  festivals,  except  that  which  came  naturally 
from  the  fact,  that  it  occurred  often  er.  Its  observ- 
ance, in  keeping  with  the  general  character  of  the 
religion  of  the  times,  consisted  in  an  outward  formal- 
ism, without  pure  spiritual  life.  Stringent  restric- 
tions were  promulgated,  which  the  people  could  not 
and  did  not  observe.  There  was  no  power  in  this 
pseudo-r-'abbathism  to  elevate  the  people,  to  draw 
them  toward  God,  or  to  nourish  true  spiritual  life. 
These  long  centuries  of  increasing  darkness,  all  pre- 
sent the  same  sad  spectacle  of  a  sinking  church,  try- 
ing to  lift  itself  by  itself,  and  sinking  deeper  at  every 
struggle.  How  much  the  few  saw  through  the  rit- 
ualism and  darkness,  we  can  not  tell;  but  the  mass- 
es, blinded  by  false  theories,  groped  painfully  and 
slowly  downward. 


CHAPTER  XVIIL 

The   Sabbath  in  the  Western 

Church    During  the 

Dark  Ages. 

Anti-Christ,  in  the  form  of  the  Papacy,  never  suc- 
ceeded in  driving-  the  Sabbath  wliolly  from  its  do- 
minions. There  is  much  tliat  bears  on  this  subject, 
besides  the  evidence  already  given,  showing  that,  as 
the  Romanized  church  gradually  expelled  the  Sab- 
bath from  the  "Orthodox  "  body,  those  who  were 
loyal  to  the  law  of  God  and  the  practices  of  the 
apostolic  church  stood  firm,  regardless  of  excommu- 
nication and  persecution. 

Dissenters  who  kept  the  Sabbath,  existed  under 
different  names  and  forms  of  organization,  from  the 
time  of  the  first  Pope  to  the  Reformation.  They 
were  either  the  descendents  of  those  who  fled  from 
the  heathen  persecutions  previous  to  the  time  of 
Constantine,  or  else  those  who,  when  he  began  to 
rule  the  church  and  force  false  practices  upon  it,  re- 
fused submission,  and  sought  seclusion,  and  freedom 
to  obey  God,  in  the  wilderness  in  and  around  the 
Alps.  In  their  earlier  history  they  were  known  as 
Nazarenes,  Cerinthians,  and  Hypsistarii,  and  later, 
as  Vaudois,  Cathari,  Toulousians,  Albigenses,  Petro- 


206  SABBATH     AND     SUNDAY. 

bnisians,  Passagii,  aud  Waldenses.  We  shall  speak 
of  them  in  general,  viuder  this  latter  name.  They 
believed  the  Romish  church  to  be  the  "  Anti  Christ'' 
spoken  of  in  the  New  Testament.  Their  doctrines 
were  comparatively  pure  and  Scriptural,  and  their 
lives  were  holj^  in  contrast  with  the  ecclesiastical 
corruption  which  surrounded  them.  The  reigning 
church  hated  and  followed  them  with  its  persecu- 
tions. In  consequence  of  this  unscrupulous  opposi- 
tion, it  is  difficult  to  learn  all  the  facts  concerning 
them,  since  the  only  available  accounts  have  come 
to  us  through  the  hands  of  their  enemies,  garbled  and 
distorted.  Before  the  age  of  printing,  their  books 
were  few;  aud  from  time  to  time  these  were  destroyed 
by  their  persecutors,  so  that  we  have  only  fragments 
from  their  own  writers.  At  the  beginning  of  the 
twelfth  century  they  had  grown  in  str«ugthand 
numbers  to  such  an  extent  as  to  call  forth  earnest 
opposition  and  bloody  persecution  from  the  Papal 
power.  This  and  the  increasing  facilities  for  pre- 
serving history  have  given  them  a  prominent  place 
in  the  annals  of  the  church,  and  its  reforms  since 
that  time.  Their  enemies  have  made  many  unreason- 
able and  false  charges  concerning  their  doctrines  and 
practices,  but  all  agree  that  they  rejected  the  doc- 
trine of  "church  authority,"  aud  appealed  to  the 
Bible  as  their  only  rule  of  faith  and  practice.  They 
condemned  the  usurpations,  the  innovations,  the 
pomp  aud  formality,  the  worldliness  and  immorality 
of  the  Romish  hierarchy.  If  their  close  adherence 
lo   God's   Word   sometimes  led   them  to  adopt  ex- 


SABBATH     AND    SL'XDAV.  207 

treme  views,  it  is  uot  wonderful.  Even  their  bitter 
enemies  have  uot  denied  that  which  all  accord  to 
them,  viz. :  moral  excellence  and  holiness  of  life  far 
in  advance  of  their  times  and  surroundings. 

There  are  three  lines  of  argument  which  show 
that  these  dissenters,  as  a  class,  were  Sabbath-keep- 
ers. 

1.  Apriori  argument,  founded  upon  the  following 
statements,  which  are  confirmed  b}^  the  subsequent 
quotations.  They  accepted  the  Bible  as  their  only- 
standard.  They  were  very  familiar  w4th  the  Old 
Testament,  and  held  it  in  great  esteem.  They  ac- 
knowledged no  custom  or  doctrine  as  binding  upon 
Christians  which  was  not  established  before  the  as- 
cension of  Christ.  Such  a  people  must  have  rejected 
those  feasts  which  the  church  had  appointed,  and 
must  have  observed  the  Sabbath.  But  there  is  di- 
rect testimony  showing  their  antiquity,  their  high 
moral  character  and  piet3%  and  their  special 
character  as  Sabbath-keepers.  It  is  pertinent  to 
preface  these  quotations  with  the  following  from 
the  pen  of  Mr.  Benedict,  by  which  it  will  be  seen 
that  it  is  almost  a  miracle  that  any  information  con- 
cerning them  has  come  down  to  this  time: 

"As  scarcely  any  fragment  of  their  history  re- 
mains, all  we  know  of  them  is  from  the  accounts  of 
their  enemies,  wiiich  w^ere  always  uttered  in  a  style 
of  censure  and  complaint;  and  without  which  we 
should  not  have  known  that  millions  of  them  ever 
existed.  It  was  the  settled  policy  of  Rome  to  oblit- 
erate every  vestige  of  opposition  to  her  decrees  and 
doctrines,  everything  heretical,  whether  persons   or 


208  SABBATH    AND    SLN'DAY. 

writings,  by  which  tlie  faithful  would  be  liable  to  be 
contaminated  and  led  astray.  In  conformity  to  this 
their  fixed  determination,  all  books  and  records  of 
their  oppose rs  were  hunted  up  and  committed  to  the 
flames.  Before  the  art  of  printing  was  discovered, 
in  the  fifteenth  century,  all  books  were  made  with  a 
pen;  the  copies,  of  course,  were  so  few  that  their 
concealment  was  much  more  difficult  than  it  would 
be  now,  and  if  a  few  of  them  escaped  the  vigilance 
of  the  inquisitors,  they  would  be  soon  worn  out  and 
gone.  None  of  them  could  be  admitted  and  pre- 
served in  tlie  public  libraries  of  the  Catholics  from 
the  ravages  of  time,  and  the  hordes  of  barbarians, 
with  which  all  parts  of  Europe  were  at  different 
times  overwhelmed."  * 

Again  Mr.  Benedict  speaks  as  follows: 

"  We  have  already  observed  from  Claudius  Seyssel, 
the  popish  archbishop,  that  one  Leo  was  charged 
with  originating  the  Waldensian  heresy  in  the  valleys, 
in  the  days  of  Constantine  the  Great.  When  those 
severe  measures  emanated  from  the  Emperor  Hono- 
rius  against  re-baptizers,  the  Baptists  left  the  seat  of 
opulence  and  power,  and  sought  retreats  in  the 
country,  and  in  the  valleys  of  Piedmont;  which  last 
place,  in  particular,  became  their  retreat  from  im- 
perial oppression."  f 

Dean  Waddington  bears  testimony  as  follows: 

"  Rainer  Sacho,  a  Dominican,  says  of  the  Wal- 
denses:  '  There  is  no  sect  so  dangerous  as  the  Leon- 
ists,  for  three  reasons:  flrst,  it  is  the  most  ancient; 
some  say  it  is  as  old  as  Sylvester,  others,  as  the 
apostles  themselves.  Secondly,  it  is  very  generally 
disseminated;  there  is  no  country  where  it  has  not 
gained  some  footing      Third,  while  other  sects  are 

*  History  of  the  Baptists,  p.  50. 
+  lb.  p.  23. 


SABBATH     AXl)    SUNDAY.  •>!09 

profane  and  blasphemous,  this  retains  the  utiiiost 
show  of  piety;  tliey  live  justly  before  men,  and  be- 
lieve nothing  concerning  God  which  is  not  good.'  "* 

This  same  writer,  Saclio,  admits  that  they  flour- 
ished at  least  five  hundred  years  before  the  time  of 
Peter  Waldo.  Their  great  antiquity  is  also  allowed 
by  Gretzer,  a  Jesuit,  who  wrote  against  them.  Crantz, 
in  his  "  History  of  the  United  Brethren,"  speaks  of 
this  class  of  Christians  in  the  following  words: 

"  These  ancient  Christians  date  their  origin  from 
the  beginning  of  the  fourth  century,  whenone  Leo, 
at  the  great  revolution  in  religion  under  Constantine 
the  Great,  opposed  the  innovations  of  Sylvester, 
Bishop  of  Rome.  Nay,  Rieger  goes  further  still, 
taking  them  for  the  remains  of  the  people  of  the 
valleys,  who,  when  the  Apostle  Paul,  as  is  said, 
made  a  journey  over  the  Alps  into  Spain,  were  con- 
verted to  Christ."! 

Jortin  bears  the  following  testimony: 

' '  In  the  seventh  century,  Christianity  was  preached 
in  China  by  the  Nestorians  and  the  Valdenses  who 
abhorred  the  papal  usurpations,  and  are  supposed  to 
have  settled  themselves  in  the  valleys  of  the  Pied- 
mont.":}: 

President  Edwards  says: 

"  Some  of  the  popish  writers  themselves  own  that 
that  people  never  submitted  to  the  Church  of  Rome. 
One  of  the  popish  writers  speaking  of  the  Waldenses, 
says:  The  heresy  of  the  Waldenses  is  the  oldest  in 
the  world.  It  is  supposed  that  this  people  first  be- 
took themselves  to  this  desert,    secret  place  among 

*  Church  History,  chap.  22,  sec.  1. 

1  Latrobe's  Trans.,  p.  16,  London,  1780. 

t  Eccl.  Hist.,  Vol.  2.  sec  38. 

(14) 


210  SABBATH    AND     SUJfDAY. 

the  mountains  to  hide  themselves  from  the  severity 
of  the  heathen  persecutions,  which  were  before  Con- 
stantine  the  Great,  and  thus  the  woman  tied  into  the 
wilderness  from  the  face  of  the  serpent.  Rev.  12: 
6-14.  And  the  people  being  settled  there,  their 
posterity  continued  there  from  age  to  age  afterward; 
and  being,  as  it  were,  by  natural  walls  as  well  as 
God's  grace,  separated  from  the  rest  of  the  world, 
never  partook  of  the  overflowing  corruption  "... 
"  Theodore  Belvedere,  a  popish  monk,  says  that  the 
heresy  had  always  been  in  the  valleys.  In  the  preface 
to  the  French  Bible  the  translators  saj'  that  they 
(the  Valdenses)  have  always  had  the  full  enjoyment 
of  the  heavenly  truth  contained  in  the  Holy  Script- 
ures ever  since  they  were  enriched  with  the  same  b}^ 
the  apostles,  having  preserved,  in  fair  manuscripts 
the  entire  Bible  in  their  native  tongue  from  genera- 
tion to  generation."  * 

Thus  history  furnishes  full  and  explicit  testimony 
concerning  the  antiquity  of  these  pure  Christians, 
showing  that  their  separation  began  very  earl3%  and 
that  they  never  submitted  to  the  Papal  power,  nor 
accepted  its  false  teachings.  Their  number  is  a 
matter  of  no  less  interest  than  their  antiquity.  Jones 
bears  the  following  testimony: 

"Even  in  the  twelfth  century  their  numbers 
abounded  in  the  neighborhood  of  Cologne  in  Fland- 
ers, the  south  of  France,  Savoy,  and  Milan.  They 
were  increased,  says  Egbert^  to  great  multitudes 
throughout  all  coutries,  and  although  the}'  seem  not 
to  have  attracted  attention  in  anv  remarkable  degree 
previous  to  this  period,  jet,  as  it  is  obvious  they 
could  not  have  sprung  up  in  a  day,  it  is  not  an  un- 
fair inference  that  they  must  have  long  existed  as  a 

*  History  of  Redemption,  pp.  293,  294. 


SABBATH    A]SD    SUNDAY.  211 

people  wholly  distinct  from  the  Catholic  church, 
though,  amidst  the  political  squabbles  of  the  clergy, 
it  was  their  good  fortune  to  be  entirely  overlooked." 

.  .  .  "  Toward  the  middle  of  the  twelfth  century, 
a  small  society  of  the  Puritans,  as  they  were  called 
b}'  some,  or  Waldenses  as  they  are  termed  by  others, 
or  Paulicians,  as  they  are  denominated  by  our  old 
monkish  historian,  William  of  Newburg,  made  their 
appearance  in  England.  This  latter  writer  speaking 
of  them,  says:  '  They  came  originally  from  Gascoyne, 
where,  being  as  numerous  as  the  sand  of  the  sea, 
they  sorely  infested  France,  Italy,  Spain  and  Eng- 
land. "* 

Benedict  says: 

"In  the  thirteenth  century,  from  the  accounts  of 
Catholic  historians,  all  of  whom  speak  of  the  Wal- 
denses in  terms  of  complaint  and  reproach,  they  had 
founded  individual  churches,  or  were  spread  ovit  in 
colonies  in  Italy,  Spain,  Germany,  the  Xetherlands, 
Bohemia,  Poland,  Lithuania,  Albania,  Lombardy, 
Milan,  liomagna,  Yicenza,  Florence,  Velepenetine, 
Constantinople,  Philadelphia,  Sclavonia,  Bulgaria, 
Diognitia,  Livonia,  Sarmatia,  Croatia,  Dalmatia, 
Briton,  and  Piedmont."! 

It  is  not  claimed  that  there  was  perfect  agreement 
in  sentiment  on  all  points  among  all  these  different 
sects,  in  all  the  different  localities.  That  they  agreed 
on  the  fundamental  point  of  rejecting  the  Romish 
Hierarchy,  and  appealing  to  the  Bible  as  the  only 
standard  of  faith  and  practice,  is  undeniable.  The 
following  testimonies  will  show  what  they  were  in 
these  respects.     Allix  speaks  as  follows: 

"  They  can  say  a  great  part  of   the  Old  and  New 

*  Hist,  of  the  Waldenses,  Vol.  1,  chap.  4,  sec.  3.  Loudon, 
1816. 

t  Hist,  of  the  Baptists,  p.  31. 


212  SABBATH    AXD    SL>sDAY. 

Testaments  In-  heart.  They  despise  the  decretals, 
and  the  sayings  and  expositions  of  holy  men,  and 
only  cleave  to  the  text  of  Scripture."  .  .  .  "  They  say 
that  the  doctrine  of  Christ  and  his  apostles  is  suffi- 
cient to  salvation,  without  any  church  statutes  and 
ordinances.  That  the  traditions  of  the  church  are 
no  better  than  the  traditions  of  the  Pharisees;  and 
that  greater  stress  is  laid  on  the  observation  of 
human  traditions  than  on  the  keeping  of  the  law  of 
God.  '  Why  do  you  transgress  the  law  of  God  by 
your  traditions? '  They  contemn  all  approved  ec- 
clesiastical customs  which  they  do  not  read  of  in  the 
gospel,  as  the  observation  of  "Candlemas,  Palm  Sun- 
day, the  reconciliation  of  penitents,  the  adoration 
of  "the  cross  on  Good  Friday.  They  despise  the 
feast  of  Easter  and  all  other  festivals  ofChi-ist  and  the 
Saints,  because  of  their  being  multiplied  to  that  vast 
number,  and  say  that  one  day  is  as  good  as  another, 
and  work  upon  holy  days  where  they  can  do  it 
without  being  taken  notice  of."  .  .  .  "They  declare 
themselves  to  be  the  apostles'  successors,  to  have 
apastolic  authority,  and  the  keys  of  binding  and 
loosing.  They  hold  the  church  of  Rome  to  be  the 
Whore  of  Babylon,  and  that  all  who  obey  her  are 
damned,  especially  the  clergy  that  are  subject  to 
her  since  the  time  of  Pope  Sylvester."  .  .  .  "They 
hold  that  none  of  the  ordinances  of  the  church  that 
have  been  introduced  since  Christ's  ascension  ouglit 
to  be  observed,  being  of  no  worth;  the  feasts,  fasts, 
orders,  blessings,  offices  of  the  church  and  the  like, 
they  utterly  reject."* 

This  is  said  of  them  in  Bohemia.  As  late  as  the 
time  of  Erasmus  these  Bohemians  continued  to  keep 
the  Sabl)ath  with  great  strictness,  as  will  be  seen  by 
the  following. 

*  Ecc.  Hist,  of  the  Ancient  Piedmont  Church,  pp.  216,  -217, 
1^09,   London,  1690. 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  213 

An  old  German  historian,  John  Sleidan,  speaking 
of  a  sect  in  Bohemia  called  "  Picards,"  says: 

''The}'  admit  of  nothing  but  the  Bible.  They 
choose  their  own  priests  and  bishops;  deny  no  man 
marriage,  perform  no  offices  for  the  dead,  and  have 
but  verj^  few  hoi}'  days  and  ceremonies."* 

These  are  the  same  people  to  whom  Erasmus  refers, 
representing  them  as  extremely  strict  in  observing 
the  Sabbath.  Robert  Cox,  in  his  "  Sabbath  Litera- 
ture," quotes  from  Erasmus  and  comments  as  fol- 
lows: 

"With  reference  to  the  origin  of  this  sect  (Sev- 
enth-day Baptists ),  I  find  a  passage  in  Erasmus,  that 
at  the  early  period  of  the  Reformation  when  he 
wrote,  there  were  Sabbatarians  in  Bohemia,  who  not 
only  kept  the  seventh  day,  but  were  said  to  be  so 
scrupulous  in  resting  on  it,  that  if  anything  went 
into  their  eyes  they  would  not  remove  it  till  the 
morrow.  He  says:  'Nunc  audimus  apud  Bohemos 
exoriri  novum  Judmorum  genus  Sabbatarios  appellant, 
qui  tanta  superstitione  servant  Sabbatum,  ut  si  quid 
eo  die  inciderit  in  oculum,  nolint  eximere;  quasi  non 
snfficiat  eis  pro  Sabbato  Dies  Dominicus  qui  Ajjostolis 
etiameratsacer,  aut  quasi  G hristus non  satis  expy^esserit 
quantum  tribuendum  sit  Sabbati.'  "f 

"Hospinian  of  Zurich,  in  his  treatise  De  Festis 
Jud<mrum  et  Ethrdcorum,  Cap.  iii,  (Tiguri. — 1592.) 
replies  to  the  arguments  of  these  Sabbatarians.":!: 

The  story  concerning  their  extreme  strictness  on 
the  Sabbath  is  doubtless  a  mistake.  But  inasmuch 
as  they  accepted  the  Bible  as  their  only  guide,  it   is 

*  History  of  the  lieformation.  etc.,  p,  53,  London,  1G89. 
t  De  Amabili  Ecclesias  Concordia,  Op.  torn.,  V,p.  506;  Luffd. 
Bat..  1704. 

t  Vol.  2,  pp.  201.202. 


2L-i  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

not  wonderful  t  hat  they  refused  to  place  the  ' '  Dies 
Dominieus  before  the  Sabbath,"  since  the  Bible  gives 
no  authority  for  such  a  course.  Doctor  Hessey  re- 
fers to  these  same  Sabbatarians  as  the  origin  of  the 
present  Seventh-day  Baptists.  A  voluminous  work 
by  Alexander  Ross,  speaking  of  these  people  at  the 
beginning  of  the  Reformation,  says: 

"Some  only  will  ol)serve  the  Lord's-day;  sonu- 
only  the  Sabbath;  some  both,  and  some  neither."* 

In  his  liistory  of  the  Waldenses,  Jones  gives  their 
"confession  of  faith,"  article  tenth  of  which  is  as 
follows: 

"  Moreover,  we  have  ever  regarded  all  the  inven 
tions  of  men  (in  affairs  of  religion)  as  an  unspeakable 
a])omination  before  God;  such  as  the  festival  days 
and  vigils  of  the  saints,  and  what  is  called  holy  wa- 
ter, the  abstaining  from  flesh  on  certain  days,  and 
such  like  things,  Imt  above  all,  the  Masses."  f 

In  section  four  of  the  same  chapter,  Jones  quotes 
from  book  first,  chapter  five,  of  Perrin's  History  of 
the  Vaudois,  as  follows: 

"  Their  heresy  excepted,  they  generally  live  a 
purer  life  than  the  Christians.  'They  never  swear 
but  by  compulsion,  and  rarely  take  the  name  of  God 
in  vain.  They  fulfill  theii-  promises  with  punctuality, 
and  living  for  the  most  part  in  poverty,  they  profess 
to  preserve  the  apostolic  life  and  doctrine.  They 
also  profess  it  to  be  their  desire  to  overcome  only  by 
the  simplicity  of  faith,  by  purity  of  conscience,  and 
by  integrity  of  life;  not  by  philosophical  niceties,  and 
theological  subtleties."     And  he   very  candidly  ad- 

*  A  View  of  All  Religions  in  the  World,  etc.,  p.  237,  Lon- 
don, 165j. 

I  Chapter  ."j,  see.  8. 


SABBATH    AXIJ     SUXDAY.  ;215 

iiiits  that,  "  lu  tlu'ir  lives  and  morals  they  are  per- 
fect, irreprehensible,  and  without  reproach  among 
men,  addicting  themselves  with  all  their  might  to 
observe  the  commandments  of  God.  Lielenstenius. 
a  Dominitian,  speaking  of  the  Waldenses  of  Bohe- 
mia, says:  'I  say  that  in  morals  and  life  they  are 
good,  true  in  words,  unanimous  in  brotherly  love, 
"but  their  faith  is  incorrigible  and  vile,  as  I  have 
shown  in  '  my  Treatise.'  "  .  .  .  "  Louis  XII. ,  king  of 
France,  being  informed  by  the  enemies  of  the  Wal- 
denses, inhabiting  a  part  of  the  province  of  Provence, 
that  several  heinous  crimes  were  laid  to  their  ac- 
count, sent  the  Master  of  Requests,  and  a  certain 
doctor  of  the  Sorbonue,  who  was  confessor  to  his 
majesty,  to  make  inquiry  into  this  matter.  On  their 
return,  they  reported  that  they  had  visited  all  the 
parishes  where  they  dwelt,  had  inspected  their  places 
of  worship,  but  that  they  had  found  there  no  images, 
nor  signs  of  ornaments  belonging  to  the  Mass,  nor 
any  of  the  ceremonies  of  the  Romish  church;  much 
less  could  they  discover  any  traces  of  the  crimes 
with  which  they  were  charged.  On  the  contrary, 
they  kept  the  Sabbath-day,  ol)served  the  ordinance 
of  baptism,  according  to  the  Primitive  church,  and 
instructed  their  children  in  the  articles  of  Cliristian 
faith,  and  the  commandments  of  God." 

Eccolampadius,  Luther,  Beza,  Bullinger,  De- 
Vignaux,  Chassagnon,  Milton,  and  others  among 
modern  writers  unite  in  liearing  testimony  to  their 
uprightness  and  faithful  adherence  to  the  Word  of 
God.  Their  observance  of  the  Sabbath  is  also  fur- 
ther attested  as  follows.     Jones  says: 

"  Because  they  would  not  observe  saints'  day  tliey 
were  falsely  supjMsed  to  neglect  the  Sabbath  also, 
and  called  TnmbbataAi,  or  Insabbathists."* 

Bennedict  has  the  following: 

*  Hist.  Waldenses,  chap.  5,  sec.  1 . 


^16  SABBATH     AND    SUXDAY. 

"  We  find  that  the  Waldenses  were  sometimes 
called  Insabhathos,  that  is  regardless  of  Sabbaths. 
Mr.  Milner  supposes  this  name  was  given  to  them 
because  they  observed  not  the  Romish  festivals  and 
rested  from  their  ordinary  occupations  only  on  Sun- 
days. A  Sabbatarian  would  suppose  that  it  was  be- 
cause they  met  for  worship  on  the  seventh  daj',  and 
did  not  regard  the  first  day  sabbath."  * 

Not  only  must  a  "Sabbatarian"  thus  conclude, 
but  ever}^  thinking  man  must  agree;  since  no  fact  is 
better  established  than  this,  viz.,  that  the  Sunday 
was  understood  to  be  purely  a  church  festival,  one 
of  the  very  things  which  t\iey  rejected.  Blair's  his- 
tory of  the  Waldenses  gives  the  following: 

"  Among  the  documents  we  have  by  the  same 
peoples  is  an  explanation  of  the  ten  commandments, 
dated  by  Boyer,  1120.  It  contains  a  compendium 
of  Christian  morality.  Supreme  love  to  God  is  en- 
forced, and  recourse  to  the  influence  of  the  planets 
and  to  sorcerers  is  condemned.  The  evil  of  worship- 
ing God  by  images  and  idols  is  pointed  out.  A  sol- 
emn oath  to  confirm  anything  doubtful  is  admitted, 
but  profane  swearing  is  forbidden.  Observation  of 
the  Sabbath,  by  ceasing  from  worldly  labors  and 
from  sin,  by  good  works,  and  b}^  promoting  the  edi- 
fication of  the  soul,  through  prayer  and  hearing  the 
word,  is  enjoined.  Whatever  is  preached  without 
Scripture  proof,  is  accounted  no  better  than  fables. "  f 

From  a  historical  work  of  the  early  part  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  entitled  "  Purchase's  Pilgrim- 
ages," a  sort  of  universal  history,  we  learn  that 
the  Waldenses,  in  diflierent  localities, 

"Keep   Saturdaj^  holy,  nor  esteem  Saturday  fasts 

*  Hist.  Baptists,  Vol.  2,  p.  412.    Ed,  1831. 
t  Vol.  1.  pp.  216.  220,  Edinburff,  1833. 


SABBATH    AND     SUNDAY.  217 

lawful.  But  on  Easter,  even,  thej'  have  solemn  ser- 
vices on  Saturdays,  eat  flesh,  and  feast  it  bravely, 
like  the  Jews/' * 

During  the  twelfth  century,  they  were  known  in 
some  parts  of  France  and  Italy  as  Passaginians.  Of 
these  Mosheim  has  the  following: 

"  Like  the  other  sects  already  mentioned,  they 
had  the  utmost  aversion  to  the  dominion  and  disci- 
pline of  the  church  of  Rome;  but  they  were,  at  the 
same  time,  distinguished  by  two  religious  tenets, 
which  were  peculiar  to  themselves.  The  first  was  a 
notion  that  the  observation  of  the  law  of  Moses,  in 
everything  except  the  offering  of  sacrifices,  was  ob- 
lio-atory  upon  Christians,  in  consequence  of  which 
thev  circumcised  their  followers,  abstained  from 
those  meats,  the  use  of  which  was  prohibited  under 
the  Mosaic  economy,  and  celebrated  the  Jewish  Sab- 
bath, "f 

The  charge  of  circumcision  is  made  only  by  theii- 
enemies,  the  Romanists,  and  is  not  well  sustained; 
but  if  it  were  true,  they  were  not  Jews,  but,  even  as 
their  enemies  admit,  were  most  blameless  and  worthy 
Christians.     Concerning  this  charge,  Benedict  says: 

"The  account  of  their  practicing  circumcision  is 
undoubtedly  a  slanderous  story,  forged  by  their  ene- 
mies, and  probably  arose  in  this  way:  Because  they 
observed  the  seventh  day,  they  were  called,  by  way 
of  derision,  Jews,  as  the  Sabbatarians  are  frequently 
at  this  day;  and  if  they  were  Jews,  they  either  did, 
or  ought  to,  circumcise  their  followers.  This  was 
probably  the  reasoning  of  their  enemies.  But  that 
they  actually  practiced  the  bloody  rite  is  altogether 
improbable."  X 

*  Vol.  2,  p,  1269,  London,  1625. 

+  Eccl.  Hist..  Vol.  2.  p.  127,  London,  1810. 

:|;  Hist.  Baptists,  Vol.  2,  pp.  412-418,  Ed.  1813. 


218  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

Another  direct  and  important  testimony  is  found 
in  a  "Treatise  on  the  Sabbath,"  by  Bishop  White. 
Speaking  of  Sabbath-keeping  as  opposed  to  the  prac- 
tice of  the  church  and  as  heretical,  he  says: 

"  It  was  thus  condemned  in  tlie  Nazarenes  and  in 
the  Cerinthians,  in  the  Ebionites  and  in  the  Hypsis- 
tarii.  The  ancient  Synod  of  Laodicea  made  a  decree 
against  it,  chap.  29;  also  Gregory  the  Great  affirmed 
it  was  Judaical.  In  St.  Bernard's  days  it  was  con- 
demned in  the  Petrobrussians.  The  same,  likewise 
being  revived  in  Luther's  time,  by  Carlstadt,  Stern- 
berg, and  by  some  secretaries  among  the  Anabaptists, 
hath  both  then,  and  ever  since,  been  condemned  as 
Jewish  and  heretical. "  * 

The  various  and  slanderous  charges  of  corruption 
and  religious  excesses  which  certain  Romish  writers 
have  made  against  the  Waldenses,  are  truthfully  and 
fairly  disposed  of  by  Mr.  W.  S.  Gully,  in  a  work  en- 
titled, "Valdenses,"  etc.: 

"  We  may,  therefore,  consider  that  all  the  licen- 
tious tales  which  have  been  told  at  the  expense  of 
Valdo  and  his  disciples,  were  the  inventions  of  after 
times.  That  individuals  among  them  may  have 
broached  some  extravagant  and  fanatical  dogmas  is 
not  improbable,  but  we  have  no  contemporary  evi- 
dence in  proof  of  their  having  departed  from  the 
strictest  rules  of  moral  and  religious  purit^y,  or  of 
their  having  been  guilty  of  any  other  than  the  un- 
pardonable olfense  of  disobeying  a  spiritual  authority 
which  had  become  as  tyrannical  in  the  exercise  of  its 
powers  as  it  was  remiss  in  the  discharge  of  the  sacred 
trusts  committed  to  it.  '  The  M^orst  thing  that  can  be 
said  of  them,'  said  the  inquisitor  Reiner,  whose  busi- 

*  P.  8,  London,  16.3.5. 


SA.BBATH    AND    SUXDAY.  219 

ness  it  was  to  accuse  and  hunt  them  down,  '  is  that 
they  detest  the  Romish  Church,'  "* 

Other  testimony  might  be  added,  but  the  case  does 
not  demand  it.  It  is  ah-eady  clear  that  when  the 
great  apostasy  began,  which  cuhninated  in  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  Papacy,  and  the  union  of  Church 
and  State,  there  were  those  who  refused  to  join  with 
the  apostate  throng,  or  recognize  its  unscriptural 
doctrines.  That  they  rejected  the  false  dogma  of 
church  infallibility,  and  adhered  to  the  Bible,  Old 
and  New  Testaments,  as  the  only  Christian  authori- 
ty, and  rule  of  Christian  living.  As  a  result  of  this, 
their  lives  were  holier  and  purer  than  those  of  the 
apostate  church.  Being  driven  from  the  central 
arena  of  ecclesiastical  and  civil  strife,  they  increased 
in  strength  and  numbers  until  they  came  to  be  feared 
by  their  enemies,  when  they  were  eagerly  hunted, 
relentlessly  condemned,  and  slaughtered  without 
mercy.  In  common  with  the  other  truths  of  the 
Bible  they  obeyed  the  law  of  the  fourth  command- 
ment and  kept  God's  Sabbath.  Their  history  forms 
a  strong  link  in  the  unbroken  chain  of  Sabbath -keep- 
ers which  unites  the  years  when  the  ' '  Lord  of  the 
Sabbath "  walked  upon  the  earth,  with  these  years 
in  which  he  is  marshaling  his  forces  for  its  final  vin- 
dication. 

=•=  P.  57,  Edinburg  edition. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

The  Sabbath  in  the  Eastern 


P 


hurch 


Having-  followed   the   Sabbath  and  the   Siindaj'^ 
down  to  the  close  of  the  Dark  Ages,  in  the  Western. 
Eomauized  church,  it  is  pertinent  to  turn  attention 
-to  the  Eastern  church,  wliicli  is  even  yet  a  teri'a  in- 
cognita to  many  readers. 

In  the   changes   of   the  first  four  centuries  after 
Christ,    the  Eastern  church,  which  was  really  the 
INIother  Church,  and  the  home  of  primitive  Christian- 
ity,* was  left  unaffected  by  the  influences  which 
;      started  the  strong  current  of  empire  westward  by 
I      way  of  Rome.     The  Eastern  world  grew  quiet  rather 
I      than  active,  and  passed  into  a  sort   of  general   and 
gradual  petrifaction  of  thought,  which  its  isolation 
from   the  westward  currents  served  to  perpetuate,  f 
No  general  revival  of  thought  and  theology,  in  the 
Eastern  church,  has  yet  taken  place.     Mohammedan- 
ism  overwhelmed  large  portions  of  the  field,  per- 
verting, and  preventing  reform.     In  the  16th  cent- 
ury Papacy  made  some   strong  inroads,  and  by  the 
fires  and  dungeons  of  the  Inquisition,  and  the  bland- 

*  See  Stanley,  Eastern  Church,  Lect.  1,  p.  87,  seq. 
+  See  Life  and  Times  of  St.  Gregory,  p.  28  and  p.  49.  of 
LoDdon  Edition,  1850. 


SABBATH     AND    SUXDAY.  221 

ishments  of  its  emissaries,  turned  many  into  its  ranks. 
Protestant  missions  began  at  different  points  about 
the  opening  of  the  present  centurj^,  but  have  not  yet 
gone  far  enough  to  create  any  general  awakening. 
For  this  reason  little  interest  has  been  felt  in  the 
Eastern  church,  and  many  have  deemed  that  all  of 
church  history,  is  involved  in  the  Western  branch, 
out  of  which  our  own  ecclesiastical  currents  have 
come.  But  the  truth  is  that  a  very  large  factor  of 
church  history  is  the  Eastern  current,  and  especially 
so  in  regard  to  the  earliest  ideas  and  practices,  those 
of  the  Apostolic  Period.  Dean  Stanley  notices  this 
feature  of  the  case  as  follows: 

"  I  have  said  that  the  field  of  Eastern  Christendom 
is  a  comparatively  untrodden  field.  It  is  out  of 
sight,  and  therefore  out  of  mind.  But  there  is  a  wise 
German  proverb  which  tells  us  that  it  is  good,  from 
time  to  time,  to  be  reminded  that  '  Behind  the  mount- 
ains there  are  people  to  be  found.'  '  Hinter  dem 
Bergei  sind  audi  Leute.  This,  true  of  all  large  bodies 
of  the  human  family,  from  whom  we  are  separated 
by  natural  or  intellectual  divisions,  is  eminently 
true  of  the  whole  branch  of  the  Christian  family, 
that  lies  in  the  far  East.  Behind  the  mountains  of 
our  knowledge,  of  our  civilization,  of  our  activity, — 
behind  the  mountains,  let  us  also  say,  of  our  igno- 
rance, of  our  prejudice,  of  our  contempt,  is  to  be 
found  nearly  a  third  part  of  Christendom.  One 
hundred  millions  of  souls  professing  the  Christian 
faith.  Even  if  we  enter  no  further  into  their  history 
it  is  important  to  remember  that  they  are  there.  No 
theory  of  the  Christian  church  can  be  complete  which 
does  not  take  some  account  of  their  existance.  .   .   . 

"But  the  Oriental  church  has  claims  to  be  con- 
sidered,   over  and  above  its  magnitude  and  its  ob- 


222  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

scurity.  By  whatever  name  we  call  it — 'Eastern,' 
'Greek,'  or  'Orthodox," — it  carries  us  back,  more 
than  any  other  existing  Christian  institution,  to  the 
earliest  scenes  and  times  of  the  Christian  religion. 
Even  though  the  annals  of  the  Oriental  Patriarchates, 
are,  for  the  most  part,  as  regards  the  personal  history 
of  their  occupants,  a  series  of  unmeaning  names,  the 
recollections  awakened  by  the  seats  of  their  power 
are  of  the  most  august  kind.  .Jerusalem,  Antioch, 
Alexandria,  are  centers  of  local  interest,  which  none 
can  see  or  study  without  emotion.  And  the  church- 
es which  have  sprung  up  in  those  regions,  retain 
the  ancient  customs  of  the  East,  and  of  the  primi- 
tive age  of  Christianity,  long  after  they  have  died 
out  everywhere  else."'  * 

There  are  three  groups  of  these  Eastern  Christians 
which  we  shall  consider  in  the  order  of  their  nation- 
ality.    First  comes 

THE  ABYSSYNIAN    CHURCH. 

The  following  extract  from  the  pen  of  Rev.  Sam- 
uel Gobat,  is  a  befitting  preface  to  what  may  be 
said  concerning  this  branch  of  the  church: 

"  It  is  generally  admitted  that  Christianity  was 
first  introduced  into  Abj^ssinia  about  the  year  of  our 
Lord  330,  at  the  time  when  Athanasius  was  patriarch 
of  Alexandria  in  Egypt."  .  .  .  "  It  is  from  this  date 
that  the  Abyssinian  church  assumes  importance  in 
the  annals  of  ecclesiastical  histor}^  Through  all 
succeeding  ages,  from  that  period  to  the  present,  she 
has  received  her  superior  ecclesiastic,  or  Abulia  (lit- 
erally our  Father,)  by  the  appointment  of  the  Patri- 
arch of  Alexandria,  and  has  continued  with  little  in- 
terruption to  maintain  an  intimate  connection  with 
the  Coptic  church  of  Egypt."  .  .  .  "During  the 
seventh  century,  when  the  Mohammedans  of  Arabia, 
.spurred  on  by  their  religious  enthusiasm,  made  an 

*  Hist.  Eastern  Church,  pp.  88,  89.    New  York,  1862. 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  223 

irruption  into  Egypt,  and  nearly  cruslied  tlie  church 
then  existing  in  that  country,  the  strong  ties  which 
had  hitherto  bound  together  the  Eastern  and  West- 
ern churches  were  almost  entirely  sundered;  and 
the  Abyssinian  church,  suddenly  becoming  obscured, 
retired"  for  several  ages  from  the  pages  of  history. 
But  ere  she  passed  behind  the  cloud,  she  encountered 
a  fearful  struggle  with  the  Arabians,  a  circumstance 
which  evinced  the  reality  of  her  vital  energies.  The 
Arabians  were  a  crafty  foe;  skillful  in  device,  and 
unscrupulous  as  to  means,  they  employed  alike 
strategem  and  force  to  induce  her  to  submit  to  their  \ 
sway,"  and  to  adopt  the  new  religion.  But,  steadfast 
in  her  religious  principles,  the  Abyssinian  church  re- 
mained unshaken  as  a  rock  amid  the  dashing  billows. 
Covering  her  with  his  shield,  God  preserved  her 
from  the  galling  voke  of  Mohammedan  tyranny,  and 
permitted  her  to  'keep  feebly  burning  the  flame  of 
Christian  faith  which  she  had  received  as  a  rich  in- 
heritance from  her  fathers."  * 

From  the  seventh  century  to  the  opening  of  the 
sixteenth  century,  the  church  of  Abyssinia  was  al- 
most entirely  shut  out  from  the  church  of  Europe. 
During  the  seventeenth  century  repeated  and  violent 
attempts  were  made  by  the  Jesuits,  under  the  patron- 
age of  Portugal,  to  convert  or  subdue  it.  Artful  in- 
trigue and  bloody  war  were  alike  unsuccessful,  and 
the  Jesuits  were  finally  driven  from  the  field.  Touch- 
ing the  Sabbath  as  an  issue  in  this  struggle,  Gobat 
speaks  as  follows: 

"  The  flame  of  discord  might  easily  have  been  ex- 
tinguished, by  the  death  of  the  Viceroy  and  that  of 
the  Abuna,  had  not  the  Emperor,  regarding  his  late 

*  Journal  of  three  years'  residence  in  Abyssinia,  p.  55, 
New  York,  1850. 


224  SABBATH    AXD    SUNDAY. 

success  as  a  decisive  victory,  issued  a  decree  forbid- 
ding the  people  longer  to  celebrate  the  Jewish  Sab- 
hath,  which,  from  time  1/1/ memorial,  they  had  been 
accustomed  to  hallow  with  the  same  strictness  and 
solemnity  as  theLord's-day.'* 

Against  this  decree  made  by  the  Emperor,  under 
the  promptings  of  the  Pope's  emissaries,  the  people 
protested  with  voice  and  sword,  and  the  war  raged 
anew.  Mr.  Gobat  describes  it  in  the  following  words: 

' '  This  unhappy  war  continued  to  rage  with  una- 
bated fury,  trembling  in  the  balance  between  alternate 
successes  and  reverses  until  the  Emperor  felt  the 
imperious  necessity,  in  consideration  of  the  interest 
of  his  throne,  and  the  tranquillity  of  his  subjects,  of 
requesting  the  patriarch  to  negotiate  a  treaty  between 
the  Pope  and  his  royal  highness,  in  which  it  should 
be  stipulated,  that  the  Abyssinian  church  might  re- 
tain their  ancient  liturgy,  celebrate  the  same  festival 
days  that  they  formerly  observed,  and  enjoy  the 
privilege  of  hallowing  not  less  the  Jewish  Sabbath 
than  the  Lord's-day,  in  agreement  with  their  u/zifor/// 
practice  previous  to  the  introduction  of  the  Catholic 
faith."  t 

But  this  was  not  enough.  The  people  "claimed 
nothing  less  than  the  entire  re-establishment  of  the 
ancient  constitution  of  their  church,  and  the  total  ex 
pulsion  of  the  strangers  from  the  kingdom."  The 
Emperor  was  too  much  under  the  control  of  the 
Jesuit  emissaries  to  grant  this  at  once.  Another 
bloody  battle  took  place  between  his  own  troops  and 
his  insurgent  people.  Though  temporarily  victori- 
ous in  this  encounter,  he  tinall}^  yielded. 

*  Journal,  etc.,  p.  93. 
1  Journal,  etc  ,  p.  83. 


.SABBATH    AXD    SUXDAY.  "r^O 

•'  Au  imperial  herald  was  accordingly  sent  through 
the  streets  of  the  Capitol,  proclainiing,  'Hear!' 
'  Hear! '  I  formerly  recommended  to  your  acceptance 
the  Catholic  faith,^  because  I  believed  it  to  be  true; 
but  as  great  numbers  of  my  subjects  have  sacrificed 
their  lives  in  defence  of  the  religion  of  our  fathers, 
I  hereby  certify  that  the  free  exercise  of  this  religion 
shall  be  hereafter  guaranteed  to  all.  Your  priests 
are  hereby  authorized  to  take  possession  of  their 
churches,  and  worship  without  molestation  the  God 
of  their  ancestors." 

"  It  is  impossible,  adequately  to  describe  the  de- 
monstration of  joy,  evinced  by  the  gushing  tears  of 
gratitude  which  accompanied  this  public  declaration. 
Voices,  echoing  the  praises  of  the  emperor,  floated  on 
every  breeze;  the  people  threw^  from  their  houses 
the  rosaries  and  chaplets  of  the  Jesuits  and  burnt 
them  in  bonfires;  satisfaction  and  delight  were  ex- 
pressed in  every  countenance,  gladness  spaikled   in 


Gibbon  describes  this  incursion  of  the  Portugues, 
at  length,  and  tells  the  story  of  the  demands  made 
by  the  emissaries  of  the  Pope,  in  the  following 
words: 

' '  After  the  amusement  of  some  unequal  combats 
between  the  Jesuits  and  his  illiterate  priests,  the 
Emperor  declared  himself  a  proselyte  to  the  Synod 
of  Chalcedon,  presuming  that  his  clergy  and  people 
would  embrace,  without  delay,  the  religion  of  their 
prince.  The  liberty  of  choice  was  succeeded  by  a 
law,  which  imposed,  under  pain  of  death,  the  belief 
of  the  two  natiu-es  of  Christ;  the  Abyssinians  were 
enjoined  to  work  and   to  play  on   the  Sabbath;  and 

■'  Gobat,  Abysinia,  p-  97. 
(15) 


226  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

Segved,  in  the  face  of  Europe  and  Africa,  renounced 
his  connection  with  Ihe  Alexandrian  church."* 

^'uch  strength  of  character  and  tenacity  of  purpose 
have  ever  marked  this  branch  of  the  chui  ch.  Inci- 
dental remarks,  scattered  through  the  work  of  Mr. 
Gobat,  show^  that  the  x\byssiuian  church  still  keeps 
the  Sabbath.  Turning  to  other  authority  the  reader 
will  learn  that: 

"The  Abyssinians  do  hold  the  Scriptures  to  be 
the  perfect  rule  of  Christian  faith;  insomuch  that 
the}^  deny  it  to  be  in  the  powder  of  a  general  council 
to  oblige  the  people  to  believe  anything  as  articles  of 
faith  without  an  express  warrant  from  them.  '  f 

"  Tran-substantiatiou  and  the  adoration  of  the  con- 
secrated bread  in  the  sacrament  were  what  the  Abys- 
sinians abhorred.  The}-  deny  purgatory,  and  know 
nothing  of  extreme  unction;  they  condemn  graven 
images;  they  keep  both  Saturday  and  Sunday."  | 

This  author,  Geddes,  gives  a  detailed  account  of 
their  doctrines  and  practices,  as  given  by  one  Zaga 
Zabo,  the  ambassador  of  the  king  of  Ethiopia,  at 
Lisbon,  Spain,  in  1534,  as  follsws: 

"  We  are  bound  by  the  Institutions  of  the  Apos- 
tles to  observe  two  days,  to  wit:  the  Sabbath  and 
the  Lord's  day,  on  which  it  is  not  law-ful  for  us  to  do 
any  w^ork.  no,  not  the  least.  On  the  Sabbath-day, 
because  God,  after  he  had  finished  the  creation  of 
the  world,  rested  thereon;  which  day,  as  God  would 
have  it  called  the  Holy  of  Huiies,  so  the  not  celebrat- 
ing thereof  with  great  Jioiwr   and  devotion  seems  to 

*  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Eoman  Empire,  Vol.  4,  chap.  47, 
p.  565.    Harper's  edition.  1883. 

t  Church  History  of  Ethiopia,  by  Michael  Geddes.  p.  31, 
London,  1696. 

i  Ibid,  pp.  34,  35. 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  227 

be  plainly  contraiy  to  God's  will  and  precept,  who 
will  suffer  heaven  and  earth  to  pass  away  sooner 
than  his  word;  and  that  especially,  since  Christ  came 
not  to  dissolve  the  law,  but  to  fulfill  it.  It  is  not, 
therefore,  in  imitation  of  the  Jeics,  but  in  obedience 
to  Christ  and  his  holy  apostles,  that  we  observe  that 
day,  the  favor  that  was  showed  herein  to  the  Jews, 
being  transferred  to  us.  Christians;  so  that,  excepting 
Lent,  we  eat  flesh  every  Saturday  in  the  year.  But 
in  the  kingdoms  of  Barnagaus,  Tigre  and  Mahon, 
the  Christians,  according  to  ancient  custom,  do  eat 
flesh  on  all  Saturdays  and  Sundays,  even  in  Lent. 
We  do  observe  the  Lord's-day  after  the  manner  of 
all  other  Christians  in  memory  of  Christ's  resurrec- 
tion." * 

More  intelligent,  scriptural,  and  truly  Christian 
views  of  the  Sabbath  could  scarcely  be  given.  Nor 
is  there  in  all  the  account  any  hint  of  authority  for 
the  Sunday,  beyond  tradition.  The  "  History  of 
the  Eastern  Church,"  b}'^  Arthur  P.  Stanley,  informs 
the  reader  that: 

"  The  church  of  Abyssinia,  founded  in  the  fourth 
century,  by  the  church  of  Alexandria,  furnishes  the 
one  example  of  a  nation,  savage,  yet  Christian,  show- 
ing us,  on  the  one  hand,  the  force  of  the  Christian 
faith  in  maintaining  its  superioritj-atall  againstsuch 
immense  disadvantages,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
utmost  amount  of  superstition  with  which  a  Chris- 
tian church  can  be  overlaid  without  perishing  alto- 
gether. One  lengthened  communicaiion  it  has  hith- 
erto received  from  the  West — the  mission  of  the 
Jesuits.  With  this  exception,  it  has  been  left  almost 
entirely  to  itself.  Whatever  there  is  of  Jewish,  or 
of  old  Egyptian,  ritual  preserved  in  the  Coptic  church 
is  carried  io  excess  in  the  Ab3'ssinian.     The  likeness 

*  Church  History  of  Ethiopia,  pp.   34,  c5. 


228  SABBATH    AND  sr>sl)AY. 

of  the  sacred  ark,  called  the  ark  of  Zion,  is  the  cen- 
ter of  Abyssinia  u  devotion.  To  it  gifts  and  prayers 
are  offered.  On  it  the  sanctity  of  the  whole  church 
depends.  Circumcision  is  not  only  practiced,  as  in 
the  Coptic  church,  but  is  regarded  as  of  e([ual  neces- 
sity with  baptism.  There  alone  the  Jewish  Sai»bath 
is  still  observed,  as  well  as  the  Christian  Sunday. 
They  (with  the  exception  of  a  small  sect  of  the  Sev- 
enth-day Baptists)  are  the  only  true  Sabbatarians  in 
Christendom."* 

Thus  has  the  Abyssinian  church  stood  tirm  on  the 
fundamental  truth  of  God's  Word,  and  clung  to  his 
Sabbath  through  all  the  vicissitudes  and  cruel  op- 
position of  fifteen  hundred  3^ears,  as  Christians  too, 
and  notas  Judaizers,  their  own  words  being  witnesses. 
It  is  not  wonderful  if  they  are  to-day  belpw  the  high- 
est Christian  standards  of  religious  life;  it  is  rather 
wonderful  that  they  have  not  been  wholly  corrupted 
and  overrun.  When  we  remember  the  fierce  attacks 
of  Mohammedanism,  the  craft  and  cruelties  of  Ro- 
manism and  the  continued  encroachments  of  surround- 
ing Pagansim,  their  present  purity  in  doctrines  and 
in  life  seems  almost  miraculous.  Gobat  testifies  that, 
though  he  had  "  sometimes  overheard  conversation 
of  a  very  improper  and,  indeed,  debasing  character," 
nevertheless  he  had  "  never  witnessed  so  much  lewd- 
ness or  indecency  of  conduct  in  the  Capitol  of  Abys- 
sinia, as  is  sometimes  witnessed  in  the  Capitol  of 
Egypt,  France  or  England."! 

The  time  may  not  be  distant  when  this  branch  of 
tlie  church  will  spring  to  new  life  and  become,  under 

*  P.  96,  New  York,   1862. 
I  Journal,  etc.,  p.  459. 


SAIJBATH    AND    SL'XDAY.  229 

(Jod,   iiistruDieiital  in  converting-  the  nations  around 
it  to  him.  and  to  lii.s  Sabbath. 

THE  ARMENIAN   CHURCH. 

Here  is  another  example,  similar  to  the  one  ju.st 
presented.  According  to  Stanley,  this  church  was 
founded  A.  D.  302.  It  was  the  central  Christian  in- 
fluence in  Asia,  and  during  its  early  history  pushed 
its  missionary  enterprises  even  to  China.  In  the  fifth 
century  a  translation  of  the  Bible  was  made  into  the 
Armenian  tongue,  which  is  so  perfect  as  to  have 
Ijeen  called  the  "queen  of  versions."  Their  general 
character  at  the  present  time  is  described  by  Mr. 
Stanley  as  follows: 

"  The  Armenians  are  b}'  far  the  most  powerful, 
and  the  most  widely  diffused,  in  the  group  of  purely 
Oriental  churches  of  which  we  are  now  speaking, 
and  as  such  exercise  a  general  influence  over  all  of 
them.  Tiieir  home  is  in  the  mountain  tract  that  en- 
circles Ararat.  But,  though  distinct  from  the  sur- 
roiuiding  nations,  they  arej'et  scattered  far  and  wide 
through  the  whole  Levant,  extending  their  episco- 
pate, and  carrying  on  at  the  same  time  the  chief 
trade  of  Asia.  A  race,  a  church,  of  merchant  princes, 
they  are  in  quietness,  in  wealth,  in  steadiness,  the 
'Quakers'  of  the  East,  the  Mews.'  if  one  may  so 
call  them,  of  the  Oriental  church.  "* 

Kev.  Lyman  Coleman  speaks  of  the  observance  of 
tiie  Sal)bath  among  the  Armenians  in  the  following 
casual  manner: 

"There  are  at  least  fourteen  great  feast-days  in 
the  cour.-e  of  the  year,  on   which  all  ordinary  labor 

*  Hist.  Eastern  Church,  p.  92. 


230  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

is  suspended,  and  the  day  is  observed  more  strictly 
than  the  Sabbath."* 

J.  W.  Mossie,  f  as  quoted  by  Andrews,  thus  de- 
scribes them: 

"  The  creed  which  these  representatives  of  an  an- 
cient line  of  Christians  cherished  was  not  in  con- 
formity with  Papal  decrees,  and  has  with  difficulty 
been  squared  with  the  thirty-nine  articles  of  the 
Anglican  Episcopacy.  Separated  l  rom  the  world  for 
one  thousand  years,  they  were  naturally  ignorant  of 
many  novelties  introduced  by  the  councils  and  de- 
crees of  the  Lateran;  and  their  conformity  with  the 
faith  and  practices  of  the  first  ages,  laid  them  open 
to  the  unpardonable  guilt  of  heresy  and  schism,  as 
estimated  by  the  church  of  Rome.  '  We  are  Chris- 
tians, and  not  idolators,'  was  their  expressive  reply, 
when  required  to  do  homage  to  the  image  of  the  Vir- 
gin Mary."  .  .  .  "La  Croze  states  them  at  fifteen 
hundred  churches,  and  as  many  towns  and  villages. 
They  refused  to  recognize  the  pope,  and  declared 
they  had  never  heard  of  him:  they  asserted  the  purity 
and  primitive  truth  of  their  faith,  since  they  came, 
and  their  bishops  had  for  thirteen  hundred  years 
been  sent  from,  the  place  where  the  followers  of 
Jesus  were  first  called  Christians."  .  .  .  "Remote 
from  the  busy  haunts  of  commerce,  or  the  populous 
seats  of  manufacturing  industry,  they  may  be  re- 
garded as  the  Eastern  Piedmontes,  the  Vallois  of 
Hindoostan,  the  witnesses  prophesying  in  sack  cloth 
through  revolving  centuries,  though  indeed  their 
bodies  lay  as  dead  in  the  streets  of  the  city  they  had 
once  peopled. " :{: 

Yea tes  inform  =(  us  that  Saturday  "amongst  them 

*  Ancient  Christianity  Exemplified,  pp.  561,  502.  Phila.. 
1852. 

+  Continental  India.  Vol.  2,  pp.  116. 117.  120. 
t  History  of  the  Sabbat li. 


SABBATH     AND    SL'NJ)AY.  *^31 

is  a  festival  day  agreeable  to  the  aucient  practice   of 
the  church."* 

But  the  following  testimony  from  the  pen  of  Rev. 
Claudius  Buchannan,  presents  the  case  still  more 
clearly.     He  says: 

"  Next  to  the  Jews,  the  Armenians  will  form  the 
most  generally  useful  body  of  Christian  missionaries. 
They  are  found  in  every  principal  city  of  Asia;  they 
are  the  general  merchants  of  the  East,  and  are  in  a 
state  of  constant  motion  from  Canton  to  Constanti- 
nople. Their  general  character  is  that  of  a  wealthy, 
industrious,  and  enterprising  people.  They  are  set- 
tled in  all  the  principal  places  of  India,  where  they 
arrived  many  centuries  before  the  English.  AVhere- 
ever  they  colonize,  they  build  churches,  and  observe 
the  solemnities  of  the  Christian  religion  in  a  decorous 
manner."  .  .  .  "The  history  of  the  Armenian 
church  is  very  interesting.  Of  all  the  Christians  in 
Central  Asia,  they  have  preserved  themselves  most 
free  from  Mohammedan  ana  Papal  corruptions.  The 
Pope  assailed  for  a  time  with  great  violence,  but 
with  little  effect.  The  churches  in  lesser  Armenia 
indeed  consented  to  a  union,  which  did  not  long  con- 
tinue; but  those  in  Persian  Armenia  maim  aiued  their 
independence,  and  they  retain  their  ancient  Script- 
ures, doctrines,  and  worship  to  this  day."  .  .  .  "The 
Bible  was  translated  into  the  Armenian  language  in 
the  tifth  century,  under  very  auspicious  circumstan- 
ces, the  history  of  which  has  come  down  to  us.  It 
has  been  allowed,  b}^  competent  judges  of  the  lan- 
guage, to  be  a  most  faithful  translation.  La  Croze 
calls  it  the  '  Queen  of  Versions.'  This  Bible  has 
ever  remained  in  the  possession  of  the  Armenian 
people,  and  many  illustrious  instances  of  genuine 
and  enlightened  piety  occur  in  their  history."  .  .   . 

*  East  India  Church  History,  p.    134— quoted  bv   Audrews, 
Sab.  Hist.  p.  314. 


232  SA1J15ATH    A^■J)    SUNDAY. 

"  The  Armenians  in  Hindoostanare  our  own  subjects. 
They  acknowledge  our  government  in  India,  as  the}- 
do  that  of  Sophi  in  Persia,  and  the}^  are  entitled  tooui- 
regard.  They  have  preserved  the  Bible  in  its  purity, 
and  their  doctrines  are,  as  far  as  the  author  knows, 
the  doctrines  of  the  Bible.  Besides,  they  maintain 
the  solemn  obser Dance  of  Christian  worship  throughout 
our  empire  on  the  seventh  day;  and  they  have  as 
many  spires  pointing  to  heaven  among  the  Hindoos 
as  ourselves.  Are  such  a  pepple  then  entitled  to  no 
acknowledgement  on  our  part,  as  fellow  Christians? 
Are  they  forever  to  be  ranked  by  us  with  Jews, 
Mohammedans,  and  Hindoos? "  * 

NESTORIAN    OR    CHALDEAN  CHEISTIAKiS. 

Stanley  states  that: 

'•  The  Chaldean  Christians,  called  by  their  oppo- 
nents, Nestorians,  are  the  most  remote  of  these  old 
'  Separatisis.'  Only  the  first  two  councils,  those  of 
ISTicjea  and  Constantinople,  have  weight  with  them. 
The  third— of  Ephesus— already  presents  the  stum- 
bling block  of  the  decree  which  condemned  Nestorius. 
Living  in  the  fastnesses  of  Kurdistan,  the}-  represent 
the  persecuted  remnant  of  the  ancient  church  of 
Central  Asia.  Thej^  trace  their  descent  from  the 
earliest  of  all  Christian  missions — the  mission  of 
Thadda?us  to  Abgarus."  .  .  .  "  In  their  earlie'- days 
the}'  sent  forth  missions  on  a  scale  exceeding  those  of 
any  Western  church,  except  the  See  of  Rome  in  the 
sixth  and  sixteenth  centuries,   and  for  the  time  re- 

*  Eesearches  in  Asia,  pp.  206,  et  seq. 
The  above  is  from  a  Boston  edition  of  1811.  It  will  not 
be  found  in  some,  if  any.  of  the  later  editions,  from  which  it 
has  been  expunjjed,  i.  e.,  the  passage  relative  to  their  observ- 
ance of  the  Sabbath.  A  similar  instance  of  corrupting  the 
text  of  history  is  found  in  a  late  edition  of  'Grant's  History 
of  the  Nestorians,"  in  which  the  word  "  Christian  "  is  often 
thrown  in  before  "  Sabbath,"  thus  leading  the  reader  to  sup- 
pose that  Sunday  is  observed  bv  the  Nestorians,  instead  of 
the  Sabbath. 


SABBATH    AXD    SUNDAY.  233 

deeming  the  Eastern  church  from  the  usual  reproach 
of  its  negligence  in  propagating  the  gospel.  Their 
chief  assumed  the  splendid  title  of  Patriarch  of  Baby- 
lon, and  their  missionaries  traversed  the  whole  of 
Asia,  as  far  eastward  as  China,  and  as  far  southward 
as  Ceylon.''* 

C'Oleraan  speaks  of  their  Sabbath-keeping  doctrines 
and  practices  as  follows,  quoting  from  their  authori- 
ties: 

"  These  eight  festivals  of  our  Lord  we  observe, 
and  we  have  many  holy  days  and  the  Sabbath-day, 
on  which  we  do  not  labor."  .  .  .  "  The  Sabbath  day 
we  reckon  far — far  above  the  others."  .  .  .  "The 
worship  of  the  Sabbath  does  not  differ  materially 
from  that  of  other  days,  except  that  an  extra  service 
for  preaching  the  gospel  is  now  extensively  intro- 
duced under  the  influence  of  the  missionaries."  .  .  . 
''  Incense  is  burned  in  the  churches  of  the  Nestorians 
on  tlie  Sabl)ath  and  on  f east-da3's. "  f 

Doctor  Hessey  quotes  from  Grant's  History  of  the 
Nestorians,  as  follows: 

"  The  Sabbath,  he  says,  is  regarded  with  a  sacred- 
ness  among  the  mountain  tribes,  which  1  have  seen 
among  no  other  Christians  in  tlie  East.  I  have  re- 
peatedly been  told  by  Nestorians  of  the  plain,  that 
their  brethren  in  the  mountains  would  immediately 
kill  a  man  for  traveling  or  laboring  on  the  Sabbath; 
and  there  is  abundant  reason  to  believe  that  this  was 
formerly  done,  though  it  has  ceased  since  the  people 
have  become  acquainted  with  the  practice  of  Chris- 
tendom on  this  subject.  While  in  the  mountains,  I 
made  repeated  inquiries  concerning  the  observance 
of  that  remarkable  statute  of  the  Jews,  which  re- 
quired that  '  whosoever  doeth  any  work  on  the  Sab- 

*  Hist.  Eastern  Church,  p.  91. 
'  Ancient  Christianity  Exemplified,  p.  .578. 


234  SABBATH     AND     SUNDAY. 

bath-day  he  shall  surely  be  put  to  death; '  and  1  was 
everywhere  told  that  this  statute  had  formerly  been 
literally  executed.  Nor  does  there  appear  to  be  any 
motive  for  deception,  since  the  practice  is  now  dis- 
approved by  all.  There  are  said  to  be  Nestorians 
now  in  Tiyary  who  will  not  kindle  a  tire  on  the  Sab- 
bath to  cook  their  food;  but  their  cold  Winters 
oblige  them  to  do  it  for  necessary  warmth."* 

Such  is  the  passage  as  quoted  by  Dr.  Hessey,  and 
referred  to  page  171  of  the  edition  of  "Grant's 
Nestorians,"  used  by  him.  On  pp.  214,  215  of  an 
edition  of  1853,  New  York,  the  same  passage  occurs, 
except  that  before  the  second  use  of  the  word  Sab- 
bath, the  word  "  Christian"  is  inserted.  This  is 
such  an  evident  inconsistency,  and  so  out  of  harmony 
with  the  surroundings,  that  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  the  edition  quoted  from  by  Dr.  Hessey,  is  the 
correct  one.  The  sentence  referring  to  the  general 
desecration  of  "  the  Lord's-day  on  the  plains,"  seems 
to  have  led  Dr.  Hessey  to  suppose  that  Grant 
meant  to  refer  to  Sunday  in  the  whole  para- 
graph. On  the  contrary,  it  seems  to  us  that  he  was 
drawing  a  contrast  between  the  loose  observance  of 
the  Sunday  on  the  plains,  and  the  strict  observance 
of  the  Sabbath  in  the  mountains,  to  emphasize  his 
theory  that  the  Nestorians  were  of  Jewish  origin, 
and  that  the  purest  stock  clung  tenaciously  to  the 
Sabbath,  while  those  who  were  more  Romanized  yet 
held  Sunday  in  light  esteem.  This  latter  fact  appears 
throughout  Dr.  Grant's  work. 

Rev.  Justin  Perkins  gives  the  following  from  an 

*  Lectures  on  Sunday,  p.  309. 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  <J3r) 

order  of  church  service  among  the  Nestorian  Chris- 
tians of  the  present  day: 

' '  1    Alternate  prayers  for  each  day  in  two  weeks. " 
•'  2!  Prayers  for  every  day  in  the  year  except  tlie 
Sabbath-day  and  festivals. "^  1  .    .•     1.  - 

"3.  Prayers  for  the  Lord's-day  and  festivals. 

This  makes  a  definite  distinction  between  the  Sab- 
bath and  the  Lord's-day. 

Mr.  Perkins  also  reports  the  existence  of  a  "Rom- 
ish Legend  of  the  Epistle  on  the  Sabbath,"  which 
custom  demanded  should  be  read  every  Sabbath,  and 
which  severely  denounced  Sabbath-breaking.  He 
also  states  that  reciting  prayers  constitutes  a  very 
considerable  part  of  the  daily  church  service  of  ihe 
Nestorians.  The  gospels  are  also  read,  particularly 
on  the  Sabbath,  and  on  festivals.  * 

Neale,  writing  concerning  the  church  calendar  of 
the  Armenians,  sayff: 

"The  observation  of  Saturday  is,  as  every  one 
knows,  a  subject  of  bitter  dispute  between  theCTreeks 
and  Latins;  the  former  observing  it  as  a  festival,  the 
latter  as  a  day  of  abstinence.  That  primitive  author- 
ity is  on  the  side  of  the  Oriental  church  none  1  im- 
agine, will  deny. " ..."  Among  both  Greeks  and  Arme- 
nmns,  Saturday  is  viewed  in  the  light  of  a  second 
Sunday.  The  liturgy  is  then  celebrated  even  when 
on  other  days  of  the  week  it  is  not;  communions  are 
more  frequent,  and,  as  we  shall  see,  the  T  roparia, 
etc.,  as  for  a  day  oi peculiar  solemnity.  ' 

Under  the  head  of  "The  Armenio-Gregorian  Cal- 
endar," Neale  adds:  ^ 

*  A  Residence  of  Eigcht  Years  in  Persia  amonff  the  Nes- 
torian Christians,  p.  15.  Andover,  1843. 


236  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

"There  is  in  truth  no  great  difficulty  in  the  Ar- 
menian fasts;  at  the  same  time  there  are  great  diffi- 
culties in  the  calendar  arising  from  the  Saturday 
commemorations,  fi.red  as  such,  and  the  translation 
of  festivals  from  a  fast  to  a  following  Saturday."* 

Another  modern  author  testifies  as  follows: 

"It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  throughout  the 
East,  Saturdaj^  is  looked  on  as  a  second  Sunday. 
The  Armenians  keep  Saturda}^  as  a  day  in  honor  of 
Almighty  God  the  Creator  of  all  things,  and  Sunday 
in  commemoration  of  the  new  creation,  brought 
about  by  the  resurrection  of  our  blessed  Lord,  Jesus 
Christ,  "t 

Thus  it  is  clear  that  with  all  that  modern  Papal 
and  Protestant  influence  has  been  able  to  do.  the 
Armenians  down  to  this  time  keep  the  Sabbath  for 
the  reasons  given  in  the  fourth  commandment. 

It  is  also  evident  that  these  branches  of  the  church 
which  have  never  been  subject  to  the  "man  of  sin'" 
who  has  "changed  times  and  laws,"  have  never 
ceased  to  observe  the  Sabbath,  It  is  also  shown  by 
their  own  words  that  they  do  this  as  a  Christian  duty, 
after  the  example  of  him  who  was  ' '  Lord  of  the  Sab- 
bath." These  branches  of  the  church  continue  to 
do  according  to  the  words  of  Athanasius,  when  he 
said:  "  AVe  meet  upon  the  Sabbath,  not  because  we 
are  affected  with  Judaism,  but  to  worship  Christ, 
the  Lord  of  the  Sabbath;'/' for  they  were  colonized 
about  the  time  he  wrote  those  words.  Thus  is  an- 
other  link  added  to  the  chain  of  proof  in  favor  of  the 

*  History  of  the  Holy  Eastern  Church,  Vol,  'i,  pp.  131,  795- 
t  The  Armenian  Churcli.  bv  E.  F.  K.  Forteseue.  p.  53,  Lon- 
don, 1872. 


SABBATH     AND     SUNDAY.  237 

observance  of  the  Sabbath  as  a  Christian  institution, 
hy  the  early  church. 

CHRISTIANS  OP^  ST.   THOMAS. 

Another  branch  of  the  Eastern  church  called  Chris- 
tians of  St.  Thomas,  Syrian  Christians,  Christians  of 
Malabar,  etc.,  presents  the  same  picture  of  Sabbath- 
keepers. 

Early  in  the  ministry  of  the  apostles,  St.  Thomas 
is  said  to  have  preached  the  gospel  in  the  south  of 
Arabia,  and  then,  crossing  the  Arabian  Sea,  in  the 
southern  part  of  India,  where  large  numbers  were 
converted  to  the  gospel.  Claudius  Buchanan,  D.  D., 
in  his  "  Christian  Researches  in  Asia,"  says: 

"  The  Syrian  Christians  inhabit  the  interior  of 
Travancore  and  Malabar,  in  the  south  of  India,  and 
have  been  settled  there  from  the  early  ages  of  Chris- 
tianity. The  first  notices  of  this'ancient  people  in 
recent  times  are  to  be  found  i;i  the  Portuguese  liis- 
tories.  When  Vasco  de  Gama  arrived  at  Cochin,  on 
the  coast  of  Malabar,  in  the  year  1503,  he  saw  the 
sceptre  of  the  Christian  king;  for  the  Syrian  Chris- 
tians had  formerly  regal  power  in  Malay — ala.  The 
name  or  title  of  their  last  king  was  Beliarte;  and  he 
dying  without  issue,  the  dominion  devolved  on  the 
king  of  Cochin  and  Diamper. 

"  When  the  Portuguese  arrived,  they  were  agree- 
ably surprised  to  find  upwards  of  a  hundred  Clu'is- 
tian  churches  on  the  coast  of  Malabar.  But  when 
they  became  acquainted  with  the  purity  and  sim- 
plicity of  their  worship,  they  were  offended.  '  These 
churches,'  said  the  Portuguese,  'belong to  the  pope.' 
'Who  is  the  pope?'  said  the  natives,  'we  never 
heard  of  him.'  The  European  priests  were  yet  more 
alarmed  when  they  found  that  these  Hindoo  Chris- 
tians maintained  the  order  and  discipline  of  a  regular 


238  SABBATH     AND    SUNDAY. 

church  under  Episcopal  jurisdiction;  and  that  for 
1,300  years  past  they  had  enjoyed  a  succession  of 
bishops  appointed  by  the  Patriarch  of  Antioch. 
'  We/  said  they,  '  are  of  the  true  faith,  whatever  you 
from  the  west  may  Ije;  for  we  come  from  tbe  place 
where  the  followers  of  Christ  were  tirst  called  (Jhris- 
tians." 

*  *  *  *  *  ^e- 

"The  doctrines  of  the  Syrian  Christians  are  few 
in  number,  but  pure,  and  agree  in  essential  points 
with  those  of  the  church  of  England,  so  that  al- 
though the  body  of  the  church  appears  to  be  igno- 
rant, and  formal,  and  dead,  there  are  individuals  who 
are  alive  to  righteousness,  who  are  distinguished 
from  the  rest  by  their  purity  of  life,  and  are  some 
times  censured  for  too  rigid  a  piety."  .   .  . 

"  All  must  confess  that  it  was  (is)  Christ's  church 
in  the.  midst  of  a  heathen  land.  The  church  of  Eng- 
land would  be  happy  to  promote  its  welfare,  to  re- 
vive its  spirit,  and  to  use  it  as  a  means  of  future 
good  in  the  midst  of  her  own  empire. 

'•  I  took  occasion  to  observe  that  there  were  some 
rites  and  practices  in  the  Syrian  church,  which  our 
church  might  consider  objectionable  or  nugatory."  * 

The  efforts  of  the  emissaries  of  the  Papal  church 
to  reduce  these  primitive  Syrian  Christians  to  the 
Romish  faith  were  carried  forward  b)'-  the  power  of 
the  Inquisition.  Dellon,  one  of  the  victims  of  that 
bloody  tribunal,  who  escaped,  wrote  an  account  of 
its  workings,  and  of  the  charges  upon  which  men 
were  tried,  in  which  we  find  tSabbath- keeping  a  prom- 
inent one.  Witness  the  following  from  his  book. 
His  arrest  occurred  in  1673: 

"Amongst  the  crimes  cognizable  in  the  Inquisition 
*  pp.  85,  99,  103,  Armstrong,  Boston,  1811. 


SABBATH     AND    SUNDAY.  239 

there  are  some  which  may  be  committed  by  one  per- 
son alone,  as  blasphemy,  impiety,  etc.,  .  .  .  and 
others  again  whic-li  require  several,  as  assisting  at 
the  Jewish  Sabbath,  "f 

In  chapter  20,  on  "  The  injustice  committed  in 
the  Inquisition  toward  those  accused  of  Judaism." 
he  says: 

"But  when  the  period  of  the  Auto  da  Fe  ap- 
proaches, the  Proctor  waits  upon  him  and  declares, 
that  he  is  charged  by  a  great  number  of  witnesses, 
of  having  Judaized ;  which  means,  having  conformed 
to  the  ceiemonies  of  the  Mosaic  law,  such  as  not 
eating  pork,  hare,  fish  without  scales,  etc.,  of  hav- 
ing attended  the  solemnization  of  the  Sabbath,  hav- 
ing eaten  the  Pascal  Lamb,  etc.  He  is  then  conjured 
'  by  the  l)0wels  of  the  mercy  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,'  (for  such  are  the  terms  affected  to  be  used 
in  this  Holy  House,)  voluntarily  to  confess  his  crimes, 
as  the  sole  means  of  saving  his  life;  and  the  Holy 
Office  desires,  if  possible,  to  prevent  his  losing  it. 
The  innocent  man  persists  in  denying  what  he  is 
urged  to  confess;  he  is,  in  consequence,  condemned 
as  '  conmcto  ntgatim,  (convicted,  but  confessing 
not,)  to  be  delivered  over  to  the  secular  power,  to  be 
punished  according  to  law,  that  is,  to  be  burnt.'  % 

"He,  perhaps,  then  concludes,  that  he  shall  be 
discharged;  but  he  has  other  things  to  perform, 
which  are  infinently  less  easy  than  what  he  has  hith- 
erto done;  for  tlie  Inquisitors,  by  degrees,  begin  to 
urge  him  in  this  way — '  If  thou  hast  observed  the 
law  of  Moses,  and  assembled  on  the  Sabbath-day  as 
thou  sayest,  and  thy  accusers  have  seen  thee  there, 
as  appears  to  have  been  the  case;  to  convince  us  of 
the  sincerity  of  thj^  repentance,  tell  us  who  are  thine 

+  P.   83,  %  P.  56. 


240  SABBATH    A  XI)  SUJS^DAY. 

accusers,  and  those  who  have  been  with  thee  at  these 
assemblies."  * 

/;  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  charge  of  "  Juda- 
;  ism,"  as  opposed  to  Cliristianity  was  false.  The 
//  Inquisition  was  never  noted  for  the  justness  nor  the 
accuracy  of  its  charges.  But  the  fact  that  assem- 
bling on  the  Sabbath  was  a  prominent  crime  in  the 
eyes  of  the  Inquisitors  shows  that  these  Christians, 
like  their  compeers,  the  Abyssiniansand  Ai-meniaus, 
kept  the  Sabbath  as  they  received  it  from  the  apos- 
tles. 

SABBATH-KEEPING  IN  CHINA. 

One  other  field  remains  to  be  noticed  before  we 
take  leave  of  the  Eastern  church, — China.  Enough 
has  been  recovered  from  its  ancient  records  to  show 
that  the  primeval  Sabbath  was  known  in  Chinese 
traditions,  and  that  Sabbath-keeping  Christianity 
existed  there,  in  common  with  the  rest  of  the  East- 
ern church.  The  Chinese  Repository,  for  March, 
1849,  page  156,  of  Vol.  1,  published  at  Canton, 
contains  an  extract  from  a  sermon  by  a  native  preach- 
er, relative  to  the  Sabbath  in  the  "  Book  of  Changes;  ' 
the  date  of  this  book  is  supposed  to  be  contempora- 
neous with  the  time  of  Noah.     The  preacher  said: 

"  The  Scriptures  say  that  in  six  days  God  made 
heaven,  earth,  the  sea,  and  all  things  therein,  and 
rested  on  the  seventh;  therefore  we  hallow  the  sev- 
enth day  as  a  sacred  time,  as  is  required  in  the  com- 
mandment.    '  Remember  the  Sabbath-day  to  keep  it 

*  P.  58;  Dellon's  Account  of  the  Inquisition  at  Goa,  trans- 
lated from  the  French,  Paris,  1684,  —  Hull,  England,  1812, 
pages  as  above. 


SABBATH    AND    SINDAY.  '^Hl 

holy/  etc.  Thus  we  see  that  the  Sabbath  began  at 
the  time  of  the  creation,  and  was  instituted  by  the 
Lord  of  all  nations;  at  that  time  there  was  only  one 
man  who  was  the  ancestor  of  all  people,  and  thus 
became  the  chief  of  all;  and  this  day  was  set  apart 
that  through  the  first  father  of  all  nations  it  might 
be  handed  down.  Proper,  therefore,  it  is  for  all 
lands  to  know  it,  for  all  people  to  observe  it.  But 
now  there  are  people  in  many  countries  entirely  igno- 
rant of  the  name  of  ihe  Sabbath.  This  is  the  cause; 
mens  hearts  are  continually  treacherous,  and  the 
heart  of  rectitude  is  ever  small,  so  that  the  longer 
the  world  exists,  the  more  it  forgets  the  commands 
of  God.  If  we  trace  the  matter  up  it  will  be  found 
that  there  is  no  country  which  did  not  know  the 
Sabbath,  and  even  the  Chinese  speak  of  it.  The 
diagram  Fuh,  in  the  '  Book  of  Changes,'  says:  '  this 
rule  goes  and  returns;  in  seven  days  it  comes  again.'  " 
.  .  .  "The  Chinese  use  the  phrase,  '  Heaven  and 
Earth,'  to  indicate  the  Supreme  Ruler,  and  he  insti- 
tuted the  Sabbath  with  no  other  reason  than  to  bene- 
fit the  bodies  and  souls  of  men,  as  the  Scriptures 
say:  '  The  Sabbath  was  made  for  man.'  Do  we  not 
again  see  in  this  the  love  of  God  for  man !  Truly 
these  words  are  trustworthy.  In  respect  of  the  ex- 
pression: 'The  ancient  kings  ordered  that  on  that 
day  the  gate  of  the  great  road  should  be  shut,  and 
the  traders  not  permitted  to  pass,  nor  the  princes  to 
go  and  examine  their  states,'  it  is  plainly  to  be  seen 
that  in  the  time  of  the  ancient  kings,  on  the  day  of 
the  Sabbath,  all  cla.sses  kept  at  rest,  and  observed 
it." 

This  interpretation  of  their  ancient  books  agrees 
with  Humboldt's  testimony,  relative  to  the  week,  he 
says: 

"  It  (the  week)  is  in  use  among  the  Chinese,  who 
seem  also  aborigines  of  the  elevated  plain  of  Tartary. 

(16) 


242  SABBATH     AND    SUNDAY. 

but  who  have    long  bad    intimate   comraunication 
with  Hindostau  and  Thibet."* 

The  existence  of  the  Eastern  or  Nestorian  type  of 
Christianity,  in  China,  during  the  earlier  centuries, 
is  well  attested;  as  is  also  the  fact,  that  it  was  a  Sab- 
bath-keeping Christianity.     Gieseler  says: 

"The  Nestorians  not  only  maintained  themselves 
in  Persia,  where  they  enjoyed  the  exclusive  favor  of 
the  king,  but  spread  their  doctrines  on  all  sides,  car- 
rying them  into  Arabia  and  India,  and  it  is  said,  in 
.the  year  636,  even  as  far  as  China,  "f 

The  evidences  of  this  occupancy  of  China  by  the 
Xestorian  Christians  is  fully  attested  by  the  follow- 
ing "  Nestorian  Inscription:" 

"In  1665,  Chinese  workmen  engaged  in  digging  a 
foundation  for  a  house,  outside  the  walls  of  the  city 
of  Si  Gnau-Fou,  the  capital  of  the  province  of  Chen-si, 
found  buried  in  the  earth  a  large  monumental  stone, 
resembling  those  which  the  Chinese  are  in  the  habit 
of  raising  to  preserve  to  posterity  the  remembrance 
of  remarkable  events  and  illustrious  men.  It  was  a 
dark-colored,  marble  tablet,  ten  feet  high  and  five 
broad,  and  bearing  on  one  side  an  inscription  in  an- 
cient Chinese,  and  also  some  other  characters  quite 
unknown  in  China.  The  discovery  excited  much 
attention  among  the  Mandarins  and  the  population 
of  the  country.  The  stone  was  publicly  exhibited, 
and  visited  by  crowds  of  curious  persons:  and  amongst 
others,  some  Jesuit  missionaries,  who  were  at  that 
time  scattered  about  China  in  various  missions,  went 
to  examine  it.  Several  exact  tracings  of  the  stone 
were  sent  to  Europe  by  the  Jesuits,  who  saw  it.  The 
library  of  their  house  at  Rome  liad  one  of  the  first, 

*  Researches,  Vol.  1.  p.  285. 
•  Church  History,  Second  Period,  chap.  6. 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  24o 

and  it  attracted  uumeroiis  visitors;  subsequently  an- 
other authcnlic  copy  of  the  dimensions  of  the  tablet 
was  sent  to  Paris,  and  deposited  at  the  library  of 
Reu  Richelieu,  where  it  may  still  be  seen  in  the 
gallery  of  manuscripts.  At  the  news  of  this  curious 
discovery,  the  government  of  Pekin  sent  to  demand 
a  copy  of  the  inscription,  and  the  Emperor  gave  or- 
ders that  the  original  should  be  placed  in  a  celebrat- 
ed pogoda,  about  one  fourth  of  a  league  from  Si- 
Gnau-Pou,  where  doubtless  it  may  still  be  found."* 
"  I  his  monument,  discovered  by  chance,  midst 
rubbish,  in  the  environs  of  an  ancient  capital  of  the 
Chinese  Empire,  excited  a  great  sensation;  for  on 
examining  the  stone,  and  endeavoring  to  interpret 
the  inscriptions,  it  was  with  surprise  discovered  that 
the  Christian  religion  had  had  numerous  apostles  in 
CJhina  at  the  beginning  of  the  seventh  century,  and 
that  it  had  for  a  long  time  tlourished  there.  The 
strange  characters  proved  to  be  those  called  eHran- 
fjellos,  which  were  in  use  among  the  ancient  inhab- 
itants of  Syria,  and  will  be  found  in  some  Syriac 
manuscripts  of  earlier  date  than  the  eighth  century." 

The  inscription  gives  a  very  fair  compendium  of 
Christian  doctrines,  from  the  Nestorian  stand-point. 
It  would  occupy  ten  or  fifteen  pages  of  this  book, 
hence  we  give  only  certain  portions,  which  bear  on 
the  theme  in  hand: 

4.  "  Our  ministers  allow  their  beards  to  grow,  to 
show  that  they  are  devoted  to  their  neighbors.  The 
tonsure  that  ihej'  wear  at  the  top  of  their  heads  in- 
dicates that  they  have  renounced  worldly  desires.  In 
giving  liberty  to  slaves  we  become  a  link  between 
the  powerful  and  the  weak.  We  do  not  accumulate 
riches,   and  we  share  with  the  poor  that  which  we 

*  During  our  residence  at  Pekin,  several  Chinese  friends 
assured  us  that  1  hey  had  seen  the  inscription  in  the  above 
mentioned  pagod.i. 


244  yAKBATH    AN  J)    SlNDAY. 

possess.  Fasting  strengthens  the  intellectual  pow 
ers,  abstinence  and  moderation  preserve  health.  We 
worship  seven  times  a  day,  and  by  our  prayers  we 
aid  the  living  and  the  dead.  On  the  serenth  day  we 
offer  sacrifice,  after  having  purified  our  hearts  and 
received  absolution  for  our  sins.  This  religion,  so 
perfect  and  so  excellent,  is  ditficult  to  name,  but  it 
enlightens  the  darkness  by  its  brilliant  precepts.  It 
is  called  the  Luminous  Religion." 

5.  "Learning  alone,  without  sanctity,  has  no 
grandeur.  Sanctity,  without  learning,  makes  no 
progress.  When  learning  and  sancity  proceed  har- 
moniously, the  universe  is  adorned  and  resplendent." 

21,  "This  stone  was  raised  in  the  second  year  of 
the  Kein-Tchoung,  of  the  great  dynasty  of  Thang 
(A.  D.  781),  on  the  seventh' day  of  the  moon  of  the 
great  increase.  At  this  time  the  devout  Ning-Chou, 
lord  of  the  doctrine,  governed  the  luminous  multi 
tude  in  the  Eastern  country."  * 

The  history  of  the  finding  of  this  monument  may 
also  be  found  in,  "  China  and  the  Chinese,"  by  Hen- 
ry Charles  birr,  an  English  Barrister,  Vol.  2,  chap. 
10,  p,  187,  seq.  8ee  also,  "  Ten  Great  Religion's." 
by  James  Freeman  Clarke,  p.  71,  seq. 

THE   GREAT   CHINESE   INSURRECTION    AND    THE 
SABBATH. 

An  Epoch  in  modern  Chinese  history  is  of  special 
interest  as  connected  with  the  Sabbath, 

The  Ti-Ping,  i.  e.,  Universal  Peace,  Revolution,  in 
China,  was  one  of  the  most  wonderful  developments 
of  the  power  of  the  Bible  over  heathenism  during 

*  Christianity  in  China,  Tarataryand  Thibet,  byM.  L'Abbe 
Hue  Vol  1,  chap.  2,  p.  45,  seq.,  London,  1^57. 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  245 

this  ceutuiy  of   marvelous  results   in   the   work   of 
foreign  missions. 

In  1833,  a  young  man,  son  of  a  peasant,  received 
a  tract,  composed  of  extracts  from  the  Bible,  from  a 
tract  distributor,  in  the  streets  of  Canton.  He  glanced 
at  it  carelessly  and  laid  it  aside.  Soon  after,  being- 
sick,  he  saw  in  a  vision  a  man  who  said  to  him,  "  I 
am  the  Creator  of  all  things,  go  and  do  my  work." 
A  few  years  later,  when  war  broke  out  between  Eng- 
land and  China,  this  young  man,  Hung-sen-tseuen, 
deeming  it  a  national  disaster  on  account  of  the  sins 
of  the  people,  re-read  his  Christian  books,  and  was 
converted  to  Christianity  thereby.  From  the  Bible 
he  drew  his  system  of  theology  as  follows:  God  is  our 
Creator  and  supreme  Father,  Christ  is  our  elder  l)roth- 
cr  and  heavenly  teacher,  Idolatry  ought  to  be  abol- 
ished, and  virtue  and  righteousness  ought  to  be  prac 
ticed  according  to  the  Decalogue  and  the  teachings 
of  the  New  Testament.  Hung-sen-tseuen  sought 
baptism  at  the  hands  of  an  American  missionary  in 
Canton,  but  was  refused,  it  is  said,  through  false 
charges.  He  then  taught  his  followers  to  baptize 
themselves.  Many  flocked  to  him,  and  the  movt  - 
ment  became  a  Chinese  Puritan  Reformation.  The 
Ti-Pings  Avere  called  "God  worshipers."  At  this 
time  there  was  universal  unrest  among  Chinamen 
against  the  ruling  Tartar  dynasty,  and  a  party  of  in- 
surgents fled  to  the  Ti-Pings  for  protection,  and  be- 
came associated  with  them.  Thus  the  movement 
assumed  a  political  character  about  1850.  It  was 
Cromwellian.     The  soldiers  knelt   in    prayer  on  the 


■^MO  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

eve  of  battle,  and  rose  from  tlieir  knees  to  figlit. 
The  entile  Bible  was  printed  and  circulated  among 
the  people.  The  Lord's  Prayer  and  the  ten  com- 
mandments were  printed  on  cards  and  taught  to  the 
children  in  every  household.  Opium,  whisky,  to- 
bacco, prostitution  and  similar  evils  were  prohibited. 
Learning  their  religion  from  the  Bible,  they  knew 
nothing  of  the  modern  theories  concerning  the  change 
or  abrogation  of  the  Sabbath,  and  hence  accepted  it 
as  a  part  of  Christianity.  One  of  their  religious  pub- 
lications was  made  up  of  the  ten  commandments, 
wiih  remarks  and  a  hymn,  one  stanza  to  each  com- 
mand.    From  that  we  extract  as  follows: 

"the  foukth  command." 

"  On  tke  seventh  day,  the  day  of  worship,  you 
should  pviiife  the  great  God  for  his  goodness.'^ 

"Remark.  In  the  beginning,  the  great  God  made 
heaven  and  earth,  laud  and  sea,  men  and  things,  in 
six  days;  and  having  finished  his  work  on  the  sev- 
enth day,  he  called  it  the  day  of  rest  (or  Sabbath); 
therefore  all  the  men  of  the  world  who  enjoy  the 
blessings  of  the  great  God,  should,  on  every  seventh 
day  espi-cially,  reverence  and  worship  the  great  God 
and  praise  him  for  his  goodness. " 

The  hymn  says: 

"  All   the   happiness   enjoyed   in    the  world   comes 

from  heaven; 
It  is  also  reasonable  that  men  give  thanks  and  sing; 
At  the  daily  morning  and  evening  meal  there  should 

be  thaiijisgiving; 


SABBATH    AXi)    SUNDAY.  247 

But  on  the  seventh  clay  the  worship  should  be  mort' 
intense."* 

Rev.  N.  Wardner,  D.  D,,  who  was  a  missionary  in 
Shanghai  during  the  Ti-Ping  movement,  writes  as 
follows: 

"But  the  question  naturally  arises:  How  came 
they  to  adopt  the  seventh  day  of  the  week  instead  of 
thii  first,  as  their  Sabbath,  since  all  their  iustruction 
from  Christians  was  by  those  who  taught  that  the 
first  day  is  the  Sabbath?  This  was  a  mystery  to  all 
who  learned  of  that  fact.  But  when  they  took  Nan- 
King,  and  Europeans  had  opportunity  to  visit  them, 
they  were  told  that  it  was  first,  because  the  Bible 
taught  it,  and  second,  because  their  ancestors  ob 
served  it  as  a  day  -of  worship. 

In  1847,  the  writer  formed  the  acquaintance  of  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Gutzlaff ,  a  German  missionary,  then  locat- 
ed at  Hong-Kong,  who  informed  him  that  he  had  re- 
cently seen  an  essay  written  by  a  very  scholarly 
Chinaman,  in  which  he  proved  conclusively,  by  a 
large  array  of  quotations  from  ancient  Chinese  his- 
tory, that  they  once  kept  the  seventh  day  of  the  week 
as  the  Sabbath." 

These  facts  unite  to  show  that  the  Christianity^ 
of  the  different  branches  of  the  Eastern  church  waa 
a  Sabbath-keeping  Christianity,  until  it  became  Ro-\ 
manized.  In  this  it  was  like  that  in  the  West  pre- 
vious to  its  Romanization.  Whatever  place  Sunday 
might  have  gained  as  a  resurrection  festival,  and  the 
counterpart  of  the  Wednesday  and  Friday  fasts,  it 
never  could  have  taken  the  place  of  the  Sabbath,  had 

*  History  of  the  Ti— spelled  both  Tae  and  Ti— Ping  Revo- 
lution, by  Lin-Le  ;  Vol.  3,  Appendix  A.,  p.  824,  London,  1866. 
Also.  History  Ti-Pinj;,  etc.,  by  Commander  Lindesy  Brine. 
R.  N. ,  p.  368,  London,  1862. 


248  SABBATH    AND  SUNDAY. 

not  Pagan  philosophy  ostracized  the  Sabbath  in  the- 
ory, and  pagan-born  civil  law  gradually  foisted  the 
Sunday  into  its  place,  urged  on  by  an  unwarrantable 
an ti- Jewish  prejudice. 


CHAPTER   XX. 

Sunday  in  the  German  Refor- 
mation. 

Reforms  center  around  one   representative  idea. 
Great  reforms  usually  begin  at  the  point  where  great 
evils  begin  to  die,  by  the  law  of  reaction.     Each 
stage  of  the  reformation  must  come  in  its  own  order. 
Error  grows  tyrannical  with  age.     It  imposes  bitter 
experiences,  before  its  victims  rise  up  in  determined 
rebellion.     The  Lutheran  movement  began  when  the 
burden  of  "  Church  authority,"  became  intolerable. 
Fainting  humanity  longed  to  come  to  God  for  rest 
and   salvation,    without    the  false    intervention    of 
church  and    priest  and    pope.      The  blasphemous 
system  of  "  Indulgences"  was  the  lowest  point  pos- 
sible, in  the  Papal  apostasy.     Here  Luther  made  the 
attact.     Thus,  salvation  through  faith,  without  the 
intervention  of  the  church,    or  the   sanction  of  its 
authority,  became  the  central  idea,  in  the  first  stage 
of  the  reformatory  movement.      Mere  protestation 
in  words  had  failed.     New  ground  had  to  be  as- 
sumed,  through  courageous  struggle.     Under  such 
circumstances,  all  outside  issues  were  forgotten,  and 
the  battle  raged  around  the  question  of  man's  right 


250  SABBATH    AND  SUNDAY. 

to  read  God's  Word,  and  to  believe  in  Christ,  with- 
out ecclesiastical  intervention. 

Aside  from  these  general  principles  of  reform, 
there  were  special  reasons  why  the  Sabbath  question 
did  not  find  a  prominent  place  in  the  earlier  stage  of 
the  Reformation.  The  theory  which  had  been  held 
so  long,  that  the  Sabbath  was  Jewish  only,  was  ac- 
cepted by  the  Continental  Reformers  with  little 
questioning.  The  tlagrant  evils  which  had  come  in 
with  the  Romish  doctrine  of  Church-appointed  holy 
days  led  to  its  rejection,  and  nothing  was  left  but 
the  nc-Sabbath  platform.  Thus,  prejudice  against 
Judaism  and  hatred  for  the  Papacy  set  the  Sabbath 
question  aside.  Keeping  this  fact  in  view,  the  read- 
er will  not  wonder  at  what  follows.  "We  aim  to 
give  "  Sunday  authorities,"  rather  than  our  own 
conclusions;  and  so  begin  the  testimony  by  a  quota- 
tion from  Doctor  Hessey.  Speaking  of  Luther's 
"  Larger  Catechism,"  he  says: 

' '  The  comment  which  it  offers  on  the  fourth  com- 
mandment begins  by  explaining  the  word  Sabbath, 
with  reference  to  its  Hebrew  meaning,  to  be  a  "■  Feier- 
tag,  diesferiaiidiseu  tacandi  a  labore." 

I  It  then  goes  on  to  speak  thus: 
/  "This  precept,  so  far  as  its  outward  and  carnal 
meaning  is  concerned,  does  not  apply  to  us  Chris- 
tians. The  Sabbath  is  an  outward  thing,  like  other 
ordinances  of  the  Old  Testament  which  were  bound 
to  certain  modes  and  persons  and  times  and  places, 
but  are  now  all  of  them  made  free  by  Christ.  Bui 
still,  in  order  that  we  may  gather  for  simple  people 
some  Christian  meaning  from  this  precept,  under- 
stand what  God  requires  of  us  therein,  in  the  follow- 


SAKBATH      AND     SLNJJAY.  251 

ing  manner.  We  celebrate  festivals,  not  for  the  sake 
of  intelligent  and  instructed  Christians  (for  these 
have  no  need  of  them),  but  tirst,  even  for  the  sake  of 
the  body.  Nature  herself  teaclies  the  lesson  that  the 
working  classes,  servants  and  maids,  are  to  be  con- 
sidered; they  have  spent  the  whole  week  in  laborious 
employment,  and  require  a  day  on  which  thev  may 
take  breath  from  their  work  and  refi'esh  themselves 
and  restore  their  exhausted  frames  by  repose.  The 
second  reason,  and  indeed  the  chief  one,  is  this:  that 
on  such  day  of  rest  {an  clem  solchcm  Rufietnge — die 
f^ahbaii),  leisure  and  time  may  be  obtained  for  divine 
worship  (a  duty  for  which,  otherwise,  no  opportunity 
could  be  found);  so  that  we  may  come  together  to 
hear  and  handle  the  Word  of  God,  and  further,  that 
we  may  glorify  God  with  hymns  and  psalms,  with 
songs  and  prayers. 

"  It  is,  however,  to  be  observed,  that  with  us,  i\nB 
is  not  so  tied  to  certain  times,  in  the  way  it  was  with 
the  Jews,  as  that  this  or  that  day  in  particular  should 
be  ordered  or  enjoined  for  it.  No  day  is  better  or 
more  excellent  than  another.  These  duties  ought  to 
be  performed  every  day.  But  the  majority  of  man- 
kind are  so  cumbered  with  business  that  they  could 
not  be  present  at  such  assemblies.  Some  one  day, 
therefore,  at  least,  must  be  selected  in  each  week  for 
attention  to  these  matters.  And  seeing  that  those 
who  preceded  us  {majon'.fi  iKMri)  chose  the  Lords- 
day  (iSonrit'if/ — dies  domudca)  for  them,  this  harmless 
and  admitted  custom  must  not  be  readily  changed: 
our  objects  in  retaining  it  are,  the  securing  of  unan- 
imity and  consent  of  arrangement,  and  the  avoidance 
of  the  general  confusion  which  would  result  from  in- 
dividual and  unnecessary  innovation."* 

The  following,  from  other  sources,  coincides  fully 
with  that  just  quoted: 

*  Sunday,  Lecture  G,  p.  167. 


252  SABBATH     AZv'D     SUNDAY. 

,  •'  As  for  the  Sabbath  or  Sunday,  there  is  no  neces 
sity  for  its  observance;  and  if  we  do  so,  the  reason 
ought  to  be,  not  because  Moses  commanded  it.  but 
because  nature  likewise  teaches  us  to  give  ourselves, 
from  time  to  time,  a  day's  rest,  in  order  tliat  man 
and  beast  may  recruit  their  strength,  and  that  we 
may  go  and  hear  the  Word  of  God  preached."  * 

Again  Luther  says: 

/   "  The  gospel  regardeth  neither  Sabbath  nor  holi- 
/days,  because  they  endured  but  for  a  time,  and  were 
j  ordained  for  the  sake  of  preaching,  to  the  end  that 
God's  Word  might  be  tended  and  taught  "  f 

And  again: 

"  Keep  the  Sabbath  holy,  for  its  use  both  to  body 
and  soul;  but  if  anywhere  the  day  is  made  holy  for 
the  mere  day's  sake;  if  anywhere  anyone  sets  up  its 
observance  upon  a  Jewish  foundation,  then  I  order 
you  to  work  on  it,  to  dance  on  it,  to  feast  on  it,  to 
ride  on  it,  to  do  anything  that  shall  remove  this  en- 
croachment on  the  Christian  spirit  of  liberty,"  % 

And  again: 

' '  According  to  Luther  the  Mosaic  law  was  imposed 
on  the  Jews  alone,  and  even  upon  them  ceased  to  be 
obligatory  at  the  coming  of  Christ.  The  ten  com- 
mandments, says  he:  '  do  not  apply  to  us  Gentiles 
and  Christians,  but  only  to  the  Jews.  If  a  preacher 
wishes  to  force  you  back  to  Moses,  ask  him  whether 
you  were  brought  by  Moses  out  of  Egypt.  If  he 
says  no,  then  say:  How  then  do^^s  Moses  concern  me, 
since  he  speaks  to  the  people  that  have  been  brought 
out  of  Egypt?    In  the  New  Testament  Moses  comes 

*  Michelet's  Life  of  Luther,  Hazlitt's  Translation,  p.  271, 
1-ondon,  1846. 

+  Luther's  Table  Talk,  Bell's  Translation,  chap.  31,  p.  357. 
lX)ndon,  1652. 

X  Quoted  in  Christian  Sects  in  the  Nineteenth  Century,  p. 
•30,  London,  1846. 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  258 

to  an  eud,  and  his  laws  lose  Iheir  force.     He  must  \ 
bow  in  the  presence  of  Christ.     We  must  stop   the 
mouths  of   the  factious  spirits  who  say:  Thus  says 
Moses.     Then  do  you  reply:  Moses  does  not  concern 
us.     If  I  accept  Moses  in  one  commandment,  I  must 
accept  the  whole  Moses.     In  that  case   I  should  bo 
obliged  to  be  circumcised,  and  to  wash  my  clothes  in  , 
a  Jewish  manner,  and   to  eat  and  drink  and  dress,  | 
and  do  everything  of   this  kind,  in  the  manner  in  / 
which  the  Jews  are  commanded  to  do   them  in   the  I 
law.     Therefore  we  will  not  obey  Moses,  or  accept 
him.     Moses  died  and  his  government    terminated 
when  Christ  came."  *  / 

Again  Luther  says: 

"  The  words  of  the  Scripture  prove  clearly  to  us, 
that  the  ten  commandments  do  not  affect  us;  for 
God  has  not  brought  us  out  of  Egypt,  but  only  the 
Jews.  We  are  willing  to  take  Moses  as  a  teacher, 
but  not  as  our  law-giver,  except  when  he  agrees  with 
the  New  Testament  and  with  the  law  of  nature.".  . 
"  No  single  point  in  Mo.ses  binds  us."  .  .  .  "Leave 
Moses  and  his  people  alone.  I  listen  to  the  word  which 
concerns  me.     We  have  the  gospel."  f 

The  "Augsburg  Confession,"  which  was  drawn 
up  by  Melancthon,  and  is  still  recognized  as  the 
standard  of  faith  in  the  Lutheran  church,  is  equally 
plain  in  its  unqualified  no-Sabbathism.  It  speaks  as 
follows: 

"  Concerning  ecclesiastical  rites  and  ceremonies, 
we  teach  that  those  may  be  kept  and  performed 
which  can   be  attended  to  without  sin,    and   Avhich 

*  Luther  on  the  Ten  Commandments,  quoted  by  Hengs- 
tenbergr.  On  the  Lord's-day,  p.  62. 

t  Instructions  to  Christians.  How  to  make  use  of  Moses, 
quoted  by  Henjrstenber  :•,  p.  61.  This  treatise  may  be  found 
in  the  Latin  of  Luther's  Works  in,  68,  Jena.  1603.  See  Cox.. 
Sabbath  Literature,  Vol.  1,  pp.  383,  384. 


254  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

promote  peace  aud  good  order  in  the  church,  such 
as  certain  holy  days,  festivals,  etc.  Concerning  mat- 
ters of  this  kind,  however,  caution  should  be  ob- 
served, lest  the  consciences  of  men  be  burdened,  as 
though  such  observances  were  necessar}-  to  salva- 
tion." f 

The  twenty -eighth  article,  treating  of  the  power 
of  the  church,  takes  up  the  question  directly,  and 
says,  speaking  of  the  traditions  of  the  Romisli 
Church: 

"  Likewise  the  authors  of  traditions  act  contrary 
to  the  command  of  God,  when  they  place  sin  in  meats, 
days  and  'such  like  things;  and  burden  the  chuich 
with  the  bondage  of  the  law;  as  if  there  ought  to  be 
among  Christians,  for  the  meriting  of  righteousness, 
a  worship  of  God  like  unto  that  of  which  we  read  in 
Leviticus,  the  ordering  whereof  God  committed,  as 
they  say,  to  the  apostles  and  bishops.  And  the  pon- 
tiffs appear  to  be  deceived  by  the  example  of  Moses's 
law;  hence  those  burdens,  that  certain  meats  detile 
and  polute  the  conscience,  and  that  it  is  deadly  sin 
to  do  any  manner  of  work  on  the  holy  days  and  on 
Sunday,  or  to  leave  unsaid  the  Horae  Septa;  that 
fastings  deserve  remission  of  sins,  and  that  they  are 
necessary  to  the  righteousness  of  the  New  Testament; 
that  sin,  in  a  case  reserved,  cannot  be  forgiven  with- 
out the  authority  of  the  reserver,  where,  indeed,  the 
canons  themselves  speak  only  of  the  reservation  of 
the  canonical  penalty,  aud  not  of  the  reservation  of 
sin.  From  whence,  and  of  w^hom,  have  the  bishops 
the  power  and  authority  to  impose  these  traditions 
upon  the  church,  to  wound  consciences?  For  St. 
Peter  forbids  the  yoke  to  be  laid  upon  the  disciples 
necks.*    And  St.  Paul  to  the  Corinthians  says,  that 

*  l^naltcred    Aussbur^  Confession,    Art,   15,  New  York . 

1850.  .  =. 


SABBATH     AND    SUNDAY.  255 

the  power  was  given  them  to  improve,  and  not  to 
destroy.  Why  then  do  the}^  multiply  sin  by  such 
precepts?  We  have  clear  texts  of  Divine  Writ,  for- 
bidding the  institution  of  such  precepts,  thinking 
thereby  to  merit  grace,  or  as  if  the  same  were  neces- 
sary to  salvation."  ..."  For  it  is  necessary  that 
the  doctrine  of  Christian  liberty  be  kept  still  in  the 
churches,  which  is,  that  the  bondage  of  the  law  is 
not  necessar}^  to  justification,  as  it  is  written,!  '  Be 
not  again  entangled  in  the  yoke  of  bondage.' 
The  pre-eminence  of  the  gospel  must  still 
be  retained,  which  declares  that  we  obtain  re- 
mission of  sins  and  justification  freely  by  faith  in 
Christ,  and  not  for  certain  observations  or  rites  de- 
vised by  men. 

'  What  shall  we  think,  then,  of  the  Lord's-day, 
and  church  ordinances  and  ceremonies?  To  this  our 
learned  men  respond,  that  it  is  lawful  for  bishops  or 
pastors  to  make  ordinances  that  things  be  done  or- 
derly in  the  church;  not  that  we  should  purchase  by 
them  remission  of  sins,  or  that  we  can  satisfy  for 
sins,  or  that  consciences  are  bound  to  judge  them 
nect'ssary,  or  to  think  that  they  sin  w^ho,  without 
offending  others,  break  them.  tSo  Paul  ordains,  that 
in  the  congregation  women  should  cover  their  heads, 
and  that  interpreters  and  teachers  be  heard  in  order 
in  the  church.  It  is  convtnient  that  the  churches 
should  keep  such  ordinances  for  the  sake  of  charity 
and  tranquility,  that  so  one  should  not  offend  anoth- 
er, that  all  things  may  be  done  in  the  churches  in 
order,  and  without  tumult;  but  yet,  so  that  the  con- 
science be  not  charged,  as  to  think  that  they  are 
necessary  to  salvation,  or  to  judge  that  they  sin  who, 
without  hurting  others,  break  tTiem;  as  that  no  one 
should  say  that  a  woman  sins  who  goeth  abroad 
bareheaded,  offending  none. 
"Even  such  is  the  observation  of  the  Lord's-day, 

t-  Gal.  o:  1. 


256  SABBATH    AND    .SUNDAY. 

of  Easter,  of  Pentecost,  aud  the  like  holy  days  and 
rites.  For  they  that  judge  that,  by  the  authority  o*f 
the  church,  tbe  observing  of  Sunday  instead  of  the 
Sabbath-day,  was  ordained  as  a  thing  necessary,  do 
greatly  err.  The  Scripture  permits  and  grants,  that 
the  keeping  of  the  Sabbath-day  is  now  "free;  for  it 
teaches  that  the  ceremonies  of  Moses's  law,  since 
the  revelation  of  the  gospel,  are  not  necessary.  And 
yet,  because  it  was  needful  to  ordain  a  certain  day, 
that  the  people  might  know  when  they  ought  to  come 
together,  it  appears  that  the  church  did  appoint  Sun- 
day, which  day,  as  it  appears,  pleased  them  rathei- 
than  the  Sabbath-day,  even  for  this  cause,  that  men 
might  have  an  example  of  Christian  liberty,  and 
might  know  that  the  keeping  and  observance  of 
either  Saturday,  or  of  any  other  day,  is  not  neces- 
sary, 

"  There  are  wonderful  disputatious  concerning 
the  changing  of  the  law,  the  ceremonies  of  the  new 
law,  the  changing  of  the  Sabbath-day,  which  all 
have  sprung  from  a  false  persuasion  and  belief  of 
men,  who  thought  there  must  needs  be  in  the  church 
an  honoring  of  God,  like  the  Levitical  law,  and  that 
Christ  committed  to  the  apostles  and  bishops  au- 
thorit/ to  invent  and  find  out  ceremonies  necessary 
to  salvation.  These  errors  crept  into  the  church 
when  the  righteousness  of  faith  was  not  clearly 
taught.  Some  dispute  that  the  keeping  of  the  Sun- 
day is  not  fully,  but  only  in  a  certain  manner,  the 
ordinance  of  God.  They  prescribe  of  holy  days, 
jhow  far  it  is  lawful  to  work.  Such  manner  of  dis- 
'putations,  whatever  else  they  do,  are  but  snares  of 
conscience."  * 

Under  such  theories,  but  one  practical  result  could 
come;  viz.,  the  loss  of  all  regard  for  any  day  as  sa- 
cred.    The  fruitage  of  these  theories  is  fully  seen  in 

the  Sabbathless  Germany  of  the  present  time. 

*  As  above,  p.  176. 


CHAPTEPv  XXI. 

Sunday  in    the   ^wiss    j^efor- 

MATION. 

Zwingle  was  the  John  the  Baptist  of  the  Reforma 
tioin  in  Switzerland.  John  Calvin  came  to  his  assist 
ance,  and  became  the  leading  spirit  in  the  work. 
Switzerland,  and  in  France.  Calvins  exacting  nature 
led  him  to  demand  greater  uniformity  in  practice 
than  was  sought  in  Germany.  But  his  theories  con- 
cerning Sunday  were  the  same  as  those  promulgated 
by  Luther,  as  will  be  seen  below.  Brabourne,  an 
English  author  who  Avrote  a  century  after  Zwingle. 
quotes  him  in  the  following  words: 

"The  Sabbath,  in  so  far  forth  as  it  is  ceremonial, is 
abolished;  and,  therefore,  now  we  are  not  tied  or  bound 
to  any  certain  times."  * 

Heylyn  corroborates  the  above  as  follows: 

"  Zwinglius  avoweth  it  to  be  lawful,  on  the  Lord's- 
day  after  the  end  of  divine  service,  for  any  man  to 
follow  and  pursue  his  labors,  as  commonly  we  do, 
saith  he,  in  time  of  harvest."  f 

Dr.  Hessey  quotes  Zwingle  as  follows: 

"  Now  hear,  my  Valentinus,  how   the  SabV)atli   is 


m 


*  On  the  Sabbath,  p.  277,  London,  1630. 
i  Hist,  of  the  Sab..  Part  2,  chap.  6.  sec  9, 

(1') 


258  SABBATH     AND    SUNDAY. 

rendered  ceremonial.  If  we  would  have  the  Lord's- 
day  so  bound  to  time  that  it  shall  be  wickedness,  in 
aliud  temjms  tramferre — to  transfer  it  to  another  time — 
in  which  resting  from  our  labors  equally  as  in  that 
we  may  hear  the  Word  of  God,  if  necessit}'  baply 
shall  so  require,  this  day  so  solicitously  observed, 
would  obtrude  on  us  a  ceremony.  For  we  are  in  no 
way  l)ound  to  time,  but  time  ought  so  to  serve  us, 
that  it  is  lawful,  and  permitted  to  each  church,  when 
necessity  urges,  (as  is  usual  to  be  done,  especially  in 
harvest  time),  to  transfer  the  solemnity  and  rest  of 
the  Lord's-day  or  Sabbath  to  some  other  day;  or  on 
the  Lord's-day  itself,  after  finishing  of  the  holy  things 
to  follow  their  labors,  though  not  without  great  ne 
cessity.     Libel  ad  Valentin,  Oentil.'''^ 

Zwingle's  notes  on  Col.  2  :  16,  says: 

' '  The  spirit  of  the  law  is  its  very  marrow — to  love 
Ood  supremel}^  and  our  neighbor  also.  To  hear 
God's  word,  to  meditate  on  his  bounties,  to  give 
thanks  for  the  same,  and  to  assemble  for  public  wor- 
ship— all  this  belongs  to  the  spirit  of  the  law;  which 
likewise  regards  the  love  of  our  neighbor,  in  requir- 
ing that  our  servants  and  workmen  be  permitted  to 
rest  from  their  toil.  For  although  we  are  not  bound  to 
a  certain  time,  we  are  bound  to  set  forth  the  glory  of 
God,  to  hear  his  Word,  to  celebrate  his  praise,  and 
to  exercise  charity  toward  our  neighbors."  f 

CALVIN. 

John  Calvin  stands  in  history  as  the  representative 
man  in  the  reformatory  movement  in  Switzerland 
and  France.  His  views  relative  to  the  Sabbath  ques- 
tion are  fully  expressed  in  his  writings,  from  which 
we  extract  the  following: 

*  Sunday,  p.  352.    Note,  387. 
+  Work's,  Vol.  4,  p.  515. 


SABBATH      AXD    srXJJAW  259 

•Sec.  28.  The  end  of  this  precept  is.  tlmt,  being 
dead  to  our  own  affections  and  works,  we  should 
meditate  on  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  be  exercised 
in  that  meditation  in  the  observance  of  his  institu- 
tions." 

"  Sec.  32.  Assemblies  of  the  church  are  enjoined 
in  the  divine  word,  and  the  necessitj^  of  them  is  .suf- 
ficiently known,  even  from  the  experience  of  life. 
Unless 'there  be  stated  days  appointed  for  them,  how 
can  they  be  held?  According  to  the  apostle,  'All 
things  are  to  be  done  decently,  and  in  order,  among 
us.  But,  so  far  is  it  from  being  possibl,e  to  preserve 
order  and  decorum  Avitliout  this  regulation,  that  if  it 
were  abolished,  the  church  would  l)e  in  imminent 
dangerof  immediate  convulsion  and  ruin."  .  .  .  "But 
why,  it  may  be  asked,  do  we  not  rather  assemble  on 
tvert/  day,  that  so  all  distinction  of  days  may  l)e  re- 
moved? /  sincere!}/  wish  this  were  practiced,  and 
truly,  spiritual  wisdom  would  be  well  worthy  of 
some  portion  of  time  being  daily  allotted  to  it." 

"  Sec.  33.  I  am  obliged  to  be  rather  more  diffuse 
on  this  point  because,  in  the  present  age,  some  un- 
quiet spirits  have  been  raising  noisy  contentions  re- 
specting the  Lord's-day.  They  complain  that  Chris- 
tians are  tinctured  with  Judaism,  because  they  re- 
tain any  ol)servauce  of  days.  But  I  reply,  that  the 
Lord's-day  is  not  ob.served  by  us  upon  the  principles 
of  Judaism;  because  in  this  respect  the  difference 
between  us  and  the  Jews  is  very  great.  For  we  cele- 
brate it,  not  Avith  scrupulous  rigor,  as  a  ceremony 
which  w^e  conceive  to  be  a  figure  of  some  spiritual 
myster}',  but  only  use  it  as  a  remedy  necessary  to  the 
preservation  of  order  in  the  church." 

' '  Sec.  34.  However,  the  ancients  have,  not  with- 
out sufficient  reason,  substituted  what  w^e  call  the 
Lord's-day  in  the  room  of  the  Sabbath.  For  since 
the  resurrection  of  the  Lord  is  the  end  and  consum- 
mation of  the  true  rest,  which  was  adumbrated  by 
the  ancient  Sabbath,  the  same  day  which  put  -an  end 


260  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

to  the  shadows  admonishes  Christians  not  to  adhere 
to  a  shadowy  ceremony.  Yet  I  do  not  lay  so  much 
stress  on  the  septenary  number  that  I  would  oblige 
the  church  to  an  invariable  adherence  to  it;  nor  will 
I  condemn  those  churches  which  have  other  solemn 
days  for  their  assemblies,  provided  they  keep  at  a 
distance  from  superstition.  And  this  will  be  the 
case  if  they  be  only  designed  for  the  observance  of 
discipline  and  well  regulated  order,  l^et  us  sum  up 
the  whole  in  the  following  manner:  As  the  truth 
was  delivered  to  the  Jews  under  a  figure,  so  it  is  giv- 
en to  us  without  any  shadows;  first,  in  order  that, 
during  our  whole  life  we  should  meditate  on  a  per- 
petual rest  from  our  works,  that  the  Lord  may  operate 
within  us  by  his  Spirit;  secondly,  that  every  man, 
whenever  he  has  leisure  should  diligently  exercise 
himself  in  private,  in  pious  reflections  on  the  works 
of  God,  and  also  that  we  should  at  the 
same  time  observe  the  legitimate  order  of 
the  church,  appointed  for  the  hearing  'of  the  word, 
for  the  administration  of  the  sacraments,  and  for 
public  prayer.  Thirdly,  that  we  should  not  un- 
kindly oppress  those  who  are  subject  to  us.  Thus 
vanish  all  the  dreams  of  false  prophets,  who  in  i)ast 
ages  have  inflicted  the  church  with  a  Jewish  notion, 
atfirming  that  nothing  but  the  ceremonial  part  of 
this  commandment,  which,  according  to  them,  is  the 
appointment;  of  the  seventh  day  has  been  abro- 
gated but  that  the  moral  part  of  it,  that  is, 
the  observance  of  one  day  in  seven,  still  remains. 
But  this  is  only  changing  the  day  in  contempt  of  the 
Jews,  while  they  retain  the  same  opinion  of  the  holi- 
ness of  a  da3\  for,  on  this  principle,  the  same  mys- 
terious signification  would  still  be  attributed  to  par- 
ticular days,  which  formerly  obtained  among  the 
Jews.  .  .  .  But  the  principal  thing  to  be  remembered 
is  the  general  doctrine,  that  lest  religion  decay  or 
languish  among  us,  sacred  assemblies  ought,  dili- 
gently to  be  held,  and  that  we  ought  to  use  those  ex- 


SABBATH    AXI)    SUNDAY.  261 

terual  means  which  arc  adapted  to  support  the  wor- 
ship of  God."  * 

Calvin  is  quoted  by  Cox  as  follows: 

"When  certain  days  are  represented  as  holy  in 
themselves,  when  one  day  is  distinguished  from  an- 
other on  religious  grounds,  when  holy  days  are 
reckoned  a  part  of  divine  worship,  then  days  are  im- 
properly observed.  The  Jewish  Sabbath,  new  moons 
and  other  festivals  were  earnestly  pressed  by  the 
false  apostles,  because  thej'  had  been  appointed  bj' 
the  law.  AYhen  we,  in  the  present  age,  make  a  dis- 
tinction of  days,  we  do  not  represent  them  as  neces- 
sary, and  thus  lay  a  snare  for  the  conscience.  We 
do  not  reckon  one  day  to  be  more  holy  than  another; 
we  do  not  make  days  to  be  the  same  thing  with  re- 
ligion and  the  worship  of  God,  but  merely  attend  to 
the  preservation  of  order  and  harmony.  The  observ- 
ance of  days  among  us  is  a  free  service  and  devoid 
of  all  superstition,  "f 

In  Calvin's  sermons  on  the  Book  of  Deuteronomy, 
sermon  34,  we  have  the  following: 

"Yea,  and  we  have  to  mark  also,  that  it  is  not 
enough  for  us  to  think  upon  God  and  his  works  up- 
on the  Lord's-da}'  every  man  by  himself,  but  that  we 
must  meet  together  upon  some  certain  day  to  make 
open  confession  of  our  faith.  Indeed,  this  ought  to 
be  done  every  day,  as  I  have  said  afore.  But  yet, 
in  respect  of  men's  rawness,  and  by  reason  of  their 
slothfulness,  it  is  necessary  to  have  one  special  day 
dedicated  wholly  thereunto.  It  is  true  that  we  be 
not  bound  to  the  seventh  day,  neither  do  we  (indeed) 
keep  the  same  day  that  was  appointed  to  the  Jews, 
for  that  was  Saturday.     But  to  the   intent  to  show 

*  Institutes  of  the  Christian  Religion,  Vol.  1,  Book  2,  chap.  8. 
+  Sab.  Lit.,  Vol.  1,  p.  404.  See  also,  Calvin's   Com.  on  Gal 
4  :  10.  Pringle's  Trans.,  Edinburg.  1854. 


^62  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

the  liberty  of  Christians,  the  da}"  was  changed  be- 
cause Jesus  Christ  in  his  resurrection  did  set  us  free 
from  tlie  bondage  of  the  law,  and  canceled  the  obli- 
gation thereof.  That  was  the  cause  why  the  day 
was  shifted.  But  yet  we  must  observe  the  same 
order  of  having  some  day  in  the  week,  be  it  one  or' 
be  it  two,  for  that  is  left  to  the  free  choice  of  Chris- 
tians." * 

Again  he  says: 

"But  some  one  will  say,  We  still  keep  up  some 
observance  of  days.  I  answer  that  we  do  not  by  any 
means  observe  days  as  though  there  was  any  sacred- 
ness  in  holy  days,  or  as  though  it  were  not  lawful  to 
labor  upon  them,  but  respect  is  paid  to  order  and 
government,  not  to  days."f 

Hopkins  bears  the  following  testimony: 

"  Calvin  took  low  ground  upon  this  subject,  speak- 
ing of  the  Sabbath  as  '  abrogated,'  to  be  used  by  Chris- 
tians only  as  a  remedy  nepessaryfor  the  preservation 
of  order  in  the  church,  for  hearing  the  Word,  for 
breaking  the  mystic  bread,  for  public  prayers,  and 
to  let  servants  and  laborers  rest.  The  pernicious  in 
tluence  of  his  views  still  infects  the  Continental 
church."  ..."  Itwaslhecustom  with  the  Protestant 
churches  on  the  Continent — thanks  in  part  to  Calvin 
— for  the  people,  after  divine  service,  to  refresh 
themselves  with  bowling,  walking  abroad,  and  other 
innocent  recreations."  ^ 

But  lest  some  one  should  charge  us  with  not  fully 
representing  Calvin,  we  add  his  comments  upon  those 
specific  portions  of  the  New  Testament,  which  are 
claimed  in  support  of  the  "Puritan"  theory  of   a 

*  Cox  Sab.  Lit.  Vol.    1.  p.  408. 
t  Com.  on  Col.  2  lo,  E;dinl)urir,  18.57. 
t  Hist,  of  till'  Pm-itans.  Vol.  3.  p.  58t'..  Boston,  185{t. 


SABBATH    AND    SIN  DAY.  26o 

"  change  of  day,"  and  of  Sunday  as  sacred  on  New 
Testament  authority.  In  commenting  on  the  time 
of  Christ's  resurrection,  and  the  harmony  of  the 
evangelists  on  that  point,*  he  says  nothing  of  the 
"  change  of  day,"  or  the  commemorating  of  the  day 
because  of  the  resurrection.  In  his  comments  on 
John  20,  he  makes  no  claim  that  "  after  eight  days,  " 
was  the  next  Sunday.  On  Acts  2  :  1,  in  treating  of 
Pentecost,  he  makes  no  claim  that  it  fell  on  the  first 
day  of  the  week.  On  Acts  20 :  7,  the  meeting  at 
Troas,  he  speaks  with  definiteness,  but  in  a  way 
which  shows  that  he  found  in  it  no  support  for  Sun- 
day observance.     He  says: 

"Either  he  doth  mean  the  first  day  of  the  week, 
which  was  next  after  the  Sabbatli,  or  else  some  cer- 
tain Sabbath.  Which  latter  thing  inny  seem  to  me 
more  probable,  for  this  cause,  that  the  day  was  more 
fit  for  an  assembly,  according  to  custom. 

"  For  to  what  end  is  there  mention  of  the  Sabbath, 
save  only  that  he  may  note  the  opportunity  and 
choice  of  time?  Also  it  is  a  likely  matter  that  Paul 
waited  for  the  Sabbath,  that  the  day  before  his  de- 
parture he  might  the  more  easily  gather  all  the  dis  ■ 
ciples  into  one  place.  Therefore,  I  think  thus,  that 
they  had  appointed  a  solemn  day  for  the  celebrating 
of  the  holy  supper  of  the  Lord  among  themselves, 
which  might  be  commodus  for  them  all."  f 

On  1  Cor.  16  :  2,  Calvin  is  still  more  plainly  com- 
mitted against  the  idea  that  Sunday  had  any  recogni- 
tion in  the  New  Testament.  The  following  are  his 
words : 


*  Matt.  28,  Mark  16,  and  Luke  24. 
Commentaries,  Latin  Edition  of  1667.  Acts  20:  T 


264  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

••  On  one  of  the  Sabbaths.  The  end  is  this  that  the}' 
might  have  their  ahns  ready  in  time.  He  therefore 
exhorts  them  not  to  wait  until  he  came,  as  anything 
that  is  done  suddenly,  and  in  a  bustle,  is  not  well 
done,  but  to  contribute  on  the  Sabbath  what  might 
seem  good,  and  according  as  every  one's  ability  might 
enable, — that  is  on  the  day  on  which  thej'  held  their 
sacred  assemblies." 

"For  he  has  an  eye,  first  of  all,  to  convenience; 
and  farther,  that  the  sacred  assembly,  in  which  the 
communion  of  saints  is  celebrated,  might  be  an  ad- 
ditional spur  to  them.  Nor  am  I  inclined  to  admit  the 
view  taken  by  Chrysostom,  that  the  term  Sabbath  is 
employed  here  to  mean  the  Lord" s-day ,-  for  the 
probability  is,  that  the  apostles,  at  the  beginning,  re- 
tained the  day  that  was  already  in  use,  but  that  af- 
terwards, constrained  bj^  the  superstition  of  the  Jews, 
they  set  aside  that  day,  and  substituted  another. 
Xow  the  Lord's-day  was  made  choice  of  chiefly  be- 
cause our  Lord's  resuii-ection  put  an  end  to  the  shad- 
ows of  the  law.  Hence  the  day  itself  puts  us  in 
mind  of  our  Christian  liberty."  f 

The  foregoing  "comments  "  show  that  the  idea  of 
a  sacred  Sunday  was  no  part  of  Calvin's  personal 
creed,  however  much  the  Puritan  notions  became 
associated  with  the  "  Calvinistic  "  theology  at  a  later 
day.  The  Puritan  Sunday  traveled  northward  from 
England,  and  not  Southward  from  Scotland.  Dr. 
Hessey  gives  audience  to  the  tradition  that  Calvin 
carried  out  his  ideas  of  liberty  in  his  personal  prac- 
tices.    He  says: 

"At  Geneva  a  tradition  exists  that  when  John 
Knox  visited  Calvin  on  a  Sunday,  he  found  his  aus- 

*Rev,  1:10. 
'  CmIvIu's  Commentaries,  1  Cor.  16. 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  265 

tere  coadjutor  bowling  on  a  greeu.  At  this  day,  aud 
at  that  place,  a  Calvinist  preacher,  after  his  Sunday 
sermons,  will  take  his  seat  at  the  card  table."* 

Such  were  the  views  of  the  great  lights  in  the 
Continental  Reformation,  Luther  and  Calvin.  The 
lesser  lights,  their  coadjutors,  followed  in  the  same 
paths.  Bullinger  and  Beza,  upon  whom  Calvin's 
mantle  fell,  were  true  to  the  teachings  of  their  pred- 
ecessor. In  his  commentary  upon  Rev.  1:  10,  Bul- 
linger asserts  that  "Christian  churches  entertained 
the  Lord's-day,  not  upon  any  commandment  from 
God,  but  upon  their  free  choice,"  In  his  sermons 
he  discusses  the  question  at  length.  In  that  discus- 
.sion  he  says. 

"Now,  as  there  ought  to  be  an  appointed  place, 
so  likewise  there  must  be  a  prescribed  time,  for  the 
outward  exercise  of  religion,  and  so  consequently, 
an  holy  rest.  They  of  the  primitive  church,  there- 
fore, did  change  the  Sabbath-day,  lest,  peradventure 
they  should  have  seemed  to  have  imitated  the  Jews, 
and  still  to  have  retained  their  order  and  ceremonies, 
and  made  their  assemblies  and  holy  restings  to  be  on 
the  lirst  day  of  sabbaths,  which  John  calleth  Sun- 
day (?)  or  the  Lord's-day,  because  of  the  Lord's  glo- 
rious resurrection  upon  tliat  day.  And  although  we 
do  not,  in  anj'  part  of  the  Apostles'  writings,  find 
any  mention  made  that  this  Sunday  was  commanded 
us  to  be  kept  holy;  yet  for  because  in  this  fourth 
precept  of  the  first  table  we  are  commanded  to  have 
a  care  of  religion  and  the  exercising  of  outward  god- 
liness, it  would  be  against  all  godliness  and  Christian 

*  Bampton  Lectures,  p.  366,  note  449.  As  authority  for 
this  tradition,  aud  the  accompanying  statement,  Hessey 
gives  Disraeli— Charles  the  First.  Vol.  2.  p.  16;  also  Strypes 
Life  of  Bp.  Aylmer  c.  xi. 


266  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

charity,  if  we  should  deny  to  sanctify  the  Sunday; 
especially,  since  the  outward  worship  of  God  cannot 
consist  without  an  appointed  time  and  space  of  holy 
rest. 

"  I  suppose,  also,  that  we  ought  to  think  the  same 
of  those  few  feasts  and  holy  days,  which  we  keep 
holy  to  Christ  our  Lord,  in  memory  of  his  nativity, 
or  incarnation,  of  his  circumcision,  of  his  passion,  of 
the  resurrection  and  ascension  of  Jesus  Christ  our 
Lord  into  heaven,  and  of  his  sending  of  the  Holy 
(xhost  upon  his  disciples.  For  Christian  liberty  is 
not  a  licentious  power  and  dissolving  of  godly,  eccle- 
siastical ordinances,  which  advance  and  set  forward 
the  glory  of  God  and  love  of  our  neighbor.  But  for 
because  the  Lord  will  have  holy  days  to  be  kept  and 
solemnized  to  himself  alone,  I  do  not  therefore  like 
of  the  festival  days  that  are  held  in  honor  of  any 
creatures.  This  glory  and  worship  is  due  to  God 
alone.  Paul  saith,  '  I  would  not  that  any  man 
should  judge  you  in  part  of  an  holy  day,  or  of  the 
sabbaths,  which  are  a  shadow  of  things  to  come. " 
And  again,  '  Ye  observe  da3^s  and  months  and 
years  and  times;  I  fear  lest  I  have  labored  in  you 
in  vain.'  And  therefore  we  at  this  day,  that  are  in 
the  church  of  Christ,  have  nothing  to' do  with  the 
Jewish  observation;  we  have  only  to  wish  and  en 
deavor  to  have  the  Christian  observation  and  exer- 
cise of  Christian  religion  to  be  freely  kept  and  ob- 
served."* 

Beza  speaks  as  follows: 

"  Concerning  the  fourth  commandment,  I  suppose 
it  is  agreed  upon  among  Christians,  that  the  same  is 
abrogated,  so  far  as  it  was  ceremonial,  but  not  in 
such  a  manner  as  that  theLord's-day  ought  to  be  ob 
served  according  to  the  manner  of  the  Jewish  Sab- 
bath, etc. ;   that  Christians  upon  that  day  should  ab- 

*  Sermons  Second  Decade,  pp.  '>59,  360,. 2()]. 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  26') 

stain  from  their  daily  labors,  except  only  such  time 
of  the  day  as  was  appointed  for  public  assemblies. 
This  was  neither  commanded  in  the  Apostles'  days, 
nor  3^et  observed,  until  Christian  Emperors  enjoined 
the  same  to  the  end  that  people  mii^ht  not  be  abstracted 
from  holy  meditations.  Neither  in  those  days  was 
the  same  precisely  or  strictly  observed."* 

Heylyn  speaks  of  Beza's  views  in  these  words: 

'•  Beza  his  (Calvin's)  scholar  and  Achates'  sings  the 
self-same  song,  that  howsoever  the  assemblies  of  the 
Lord's-day  were  of  apostolic  and  divine  tradition. 
yet  so  that  there  was  no  cessation  from  work  required, 
as  was  observed  among  the  Jews.  For  that,  saith 
he,  had  not  so  much  abolished  Judaism,  as  put  it  off 
and  changed  it  to  another  day.  And  he  then  adds 
that  this  cessation  was  first  brought  in  by  Constan 
tine  and  afterwards  confirmed  wifh  more  and  more  re- 
straints,by  the  following  Emperors,  by  means  of  which 
it  came  to  pass,  that  that  which  was  at  first  done  for  a 
good  intent,  viz.,  that  men  being  free  from  their 
worldly  business,  might  wholly  give  themselves  to 
hearing  of  the  Word  of  God,  degenerated  at  last  into 
downright  Judaism  [In  Apocal.  1 ;  10]."  f 

Heylyn  goes  on,  speaking  of  others,  as  follows: 

"  So  for  the  Lutheran  churches,  Chemnitz  charges 
the  Romanists  with  superstition,  because  they  taught 
the  people  that  the  holy  days,  considered  only  in 
themselves,  had  a  native  sanctity.  And  howsoever 
for  his  part,  he  thinks  it  requisite  that  men  should 
be  restrained .  from  all  such  works  as  may  be  any 
hindrance  to  the  sanctifying  of  the  day,  yet  he  ac- 
counts it  but  a  part  of  the  Jewish  leaven  so  scrupu 
lousl}^  to  prohibit  such  external  actions  as  are  no  bin 
drances  to  God's  public  worship,  and  man's  Sabbath 

*  Homily  30,  on  the  Soiijrs  of  Solomon, 
t  History  Sabbath,  part  2(1.  chap.  C.  sec.  5. 


•^68  SABBATH    AND    SUXJJAY. 

duties.  Bucer  goea  further  yet,  and  doth  not  only 
call  it  a  superstition,  but  an  apostasy  from  Christ,  to 
tliink  that  working  on  the  Lord's-day,  in  itself  con- 
sidered, is  a  sinful  thing.  He  adds  that  he  '  did  very 
well  approve  of  the  Lord's-day  meetings,  if  men 
were  once  dispossessed  of  the  opinions  that  the  day 
was  necessary  to  be  kept,  that  it  was  holier  in  itself 
than  the  other  days,  and  that  to  work  upon  that  day 
was  in  itself  sinful.'  Lastly,  the  churches  of  the 
Switzers  profess,  in  their  confession — c.  24 — that,  in 
the  keeping  of  the  Lord's-day,  they  give  not  the  least 
hint  to  any  Jewish  superstitions,  '  for  neither,'  as 
they  said,  '  do  we  conceive  one  day  to  be  more  holy 
than  another,  or  think  that  rest  from  labor,  in  itself 
considered,  is  any  way  pleasing  unto  God.""  .  .  . 
•  Bucer  resolves  the  point  more  clearly,  and  saith. 

•  The  Lord's-day,  by  the  common  consent  of  Chris- 
tian people,  was  dedicated  unto  public  rest,  and  the 
assemblies  of  the  church.'  And  Peter  Martyr,  up- 
on a  question  being  asked,  why  the  old  seventh  day 
was  not  kept  in  the  Christian  church,  makes  answer, 

•  that  upon  that  day,  and  on  all  the  rest,  we  ought  to 
rest  from  our  own  works,  the  works  of  sin.'  That  this 
was  rather  chosen  than  that,  for  God's  public  service, 

that,"  saith  he,  '  Christ  left  totally  unto  the  liberty 
of  the  church,  to  do  therein  what  should  seem  most 
expedient,  and  that  the  church  did  very  well,  in  that 
she  did  prefer  the  memory  of  the  resurrect  ion  before 
the  memor}^  of  creation. '  "  .  .  .  "  Gaulter  speaking 
more  generalh^  (says)  that  '  the  Christians  first  as- 
sembled on  the  Sabbath-day,  as  being  then  most  fa- 
mous and  so  most  in  use.  But  when  the  churches 
were  augmented,  the  next  day  after  the  Sabbath  was 
designed  to  those  holy  uses."* 

IN   FRANCE. 

The   character  of  the   reformatory  movement  in 
*  Hist.  Sab.,  part  2.  chap.  6,  sec.  7. 


SABBATH     AXD    SUNDAY.  269 

France  was  so  nearly  allied  to  that  in  Switzerland, 
that  little  need  be  said  concerning  it.  It  met  witli 
but  slight  success  until  afte>'  the  reformed  party  had 
Ijecome  established  in  Switzerland,  when  Calvin, 
who  had  been  exiled  from  his  native  France,  re- 
turned, and  became,  as  he  had  been  in  Switzerland, 
the  master  spirit  of  the  French  Reformation.  The 
first  Protestant  congregation  was  formed  in  Paris, 
in  1555,  and  the  first  Synod  held  there  in  1559.  In 
1571,  the  General  Synod  at  La  Rochelle  adopted  the 
Galilean  Confession  and  the  Calvanistic  system  of 
government  and  discipline.  Thus  the  same  view  ob- 
tained as  in  Switzerland;  and  the  French  church  was 
characterized  by  the  same  ideas  of  Christian  liberty. 

SUMMAKY. 

We  are  therefore  ready  to  sum  up  the  case  regard- 
ing the  Reformation  on  the  Continent.  We  cannot 
do  this  better  than  by  quoting  from  Doctor  Hessey: 

"And  so  it  wvas  in  reference  to  the  Lord'sday. 
With  one  blow,  as  it  were,  and  with  one  consent, 
the  Continental  Reformers  rejected  the  legal  or  Jew- 
ish title  which  had  been  set  upon  it,  the  more  than 
Jewish  ceremonies  and  restrictions  by  which,  in  the- 
ory at  least,  it  had  been  encumbered;  the  army  of 
holy  days,  of  obligation  by  wiiich  it  had  been  sur- 
rounded. But  they  did  more.  They  left  no  sanc- 
tion for  the  day  itself,  which  could  commend  itself 
powerfully  to  men's  consciences.  They  did  not  per- 
ceive that,  through  the  Apostles,  it  was  of  the  Lord's 
founding.  They  swept  away,  together  with  the 
upper  works,  which  were  not  the  Lord's,  the  under 
loorks,  which  icere  the  Lord's.  And  when  they  dis- 
covered that  men,  that  liimian  nature,  in  fact,  could 
not  do  without  it,  they  adopted  the  day  indeed,  but 


270  SABBATH    AKD     SUNDAY. 

with  this  reservation,  expressed  or  implied,  '  The 
Lord's-day  is  to  be  phiced  in  the  category  of  ordinances, 
which,  being  matters  of  indifference,  any  particular 
or  National  Church  hath  power  to  ordain,  change, 
or  abolish;  or,  which  was  worse  still,  they  made  it 
a  purely  civil  institution,  dependent,  if  not  for  its 
origin,  at  least  for  its  continuance,  upon  the  secular 
power. "  * 

On  page  172,  liessey  concludes  in  these  words: 

"  We  are  now,  I  think,  in  a  condition  to  sum  up 
the  views  of  the  Continental  Reformers  of  the  six- 
teenth century  on  the  subject  before  us.  Sabbatari- 
ans, indeed,  those  eminent  men  were  not.  They  arc 
utterly  opposed  to  the  literal  application  of  the  fourth 
commandment  to  the  circumstances  of  Christians. 
They  scarcely  touch  upon  that  commandment,  ex- 
cept to  show  that  the  Sabbath  has  passed  away."  .  .  . 
■ '  They  feel  it  necessary  to  defend  their  practice  on 
grounds,  sometimes  perhaps  of  apostolic  example, 
(with  the  proviso,  however,  that  such  example  is  to 
l)e  taken  onh'  for  what  it  is  worth,)  but  generally, 
of  antiquity,  of  the  church's  will,  of  the  church's 
wisdom,  of  considerations  of  expediency,  of  regard 
to  the  weaker  brethren,  and  sometimes  on  lower 
grounds  still.  And  neither  the  day  itself,  nor  the 
interval  at  which  it  recurs,  is  of  obligation.  Our 
Lord's  resurrection  is  made  a  decent  excuse  for  the 
da3%  rather  than  the  original  reason,  or  one  of  the 
original  reasons  for  its  institution.  We  miss  also  in 
their  writings  that  close  connection  of  the  Lord's-day 
with  the  Lord's  Supper,  which  was  prominently 
brought  forward  in  early  times."  .  ,  .  "And  it  seems 
to  me  more  than  probable  that  the  want  of  a  deeper 
sanction  for  the  observance  of  the  Lord's-day  than 
their  teachers  supplied,  led  the  members  both  of  the 
Protestant  and  of  the  Reformed  communions  into  a 

*  Sunday  Lect.  (3,  p.  165,  et  seq. 


SABBATH    AND     SUNDAY.  271 

practical  disregard  of  it,  closely  resembling  that  of 
the  communion  which  they  had  indignantly  dis- 
claimed." 

Heyl3'n  sums  up  the  case  in  a  similar  strain: 

•  •  Thus  have  we  proved  by  the  doctrine  of  the 
Protestants,  of  what  side  soever,  and  those  of  great- 
est credit  in  their  several  churches,  eighteen  by 
name,  and  all  the  Lutherans  in  general  of  the  same 
opinion,  that  the  Lord's-day  is  of  no  other  institution 
than  the  authority  of  the  church."  ..."  Nay,  by  the 
doctrine  of  the  Helvetian  churches,  if  I  conceive 
their  meaning  rightly,  every  particular  church  may 
designate  what  day  they  please  to  religious  meetings, 
and  every  day  may  be  a  Lord's-day  or  a  Sabbath,"  * 

The  fact  is  thus  placed  beyond  question,  that  the 
■  Continental"  reformers  taught  unmodified  no-Sab- 
bathism,  on  the  broad  ground  of  Christian  liberty. 
The  present  flood  of  no-Sabbathism,  which  is  pouring 
mto  America  from  the  Continent  of  Europe,  is  the 
logical  fruitage  of  the  theories  which  were  thus  earlj^ 
taught.  The  correctness  of  these  theories  must  be 
tested,  in  part  at  least,  by  their  present  fruitage  thus 
seen.  But  according  to  the  philosophy'  of  history, 
we  may  not  condemn  the  continent  of  Europe  for 
its  present  no  Sabbathism.  It  was  a  no-Sabbath  tree 
which  the  reformers  planted  there. 

Robert  Cox  makes  the  same  conclusions  in  a  criti- 
cism upon  a  passage  from  the  papers  of  the  "Sab- 
bath Alliance,"  in  which  he  states  that  Luther,  Cal- 

*  Hist.  Sab.,  Part  2,  chap.  6,  sec.  8. 


272  SABBATH     AND    SUNDAY. 

vin,  Melancthon,  Beza,  Bucer,  Zwiugle  and  others 
taught  "expressly  or  in  effect  that  the  Sabbath  was 
an  exclusively  Jewish  institution,  and  was  never  meant 
for  this  more  advanced  age."  * 

*  Sabbath  Laws  and  Sabbath  Duties,  p.  484. 


(IHAPTEl?    XX 11. 

Sunday     in    the    -^nglish     Re- 
formation. 

The  ret'oini.-tloi'y  iuo\eineiit  Avas  less  radical,  at 
tir.sl,  ill  England  than  in  (T«*nnanv.  It  sought  lu 
convct  certain  abuses,  without  any  material  change 
in  the  doctrines  of  the  church.  The  per.'^onal  aliena- 
tion between  Henry  \'III.  and  the  Po])c  hastened 
the  rupture,  and  ga\'e  birth  to  the  '  English  Church." 
But  the  fickleness  of  Henry,  and  his  tendency  t<r 
favor  the  Papacy,  during  the  later  years  of  his  life,, 
prevented  the  a(;coniplishnient  of  much  legal  reform 
prcviou.s  to  the  close  of  his  reign,  in  1546.  A  ma- 
jority of  the  Regents  who  administered  the  affairs  of 
the  government  during  the  minority  of  Kdward  VI. 
favored  the  Reformation.  This  brought  the  support 
of  tlie  civil  i)ovver,  so  that,  so  far  as  it  could  I>c  ex- 
pressed by  civil  law,  the  Reformation  was  well  ad- 
vanced at  the  close  of  Edward's  reign.  S|»eaking 
on  this  point,  Xeale  says: 

"  They  made  as  quick  advances,  pei'hups,  in  re- 
storing religion  toward  its  pi-imitive  simplicity  as 
the  circumstances  of  the  time  would  admit:  and  it 
is  evident  that  tlay  designed  to  go  farther,  and  not 
make  this  the  last  standard  of  the  Reformation.  In- 
deed, Queen  Elizabeth  thought  her  brother  had  gone 
too  far,  by  stripping  i-eligion  of  too  maiiy  ornajnents. 

(IS) 


;:^74  sabbath    and  Sunday. 

and,  therefore,  wlien  she  came  to  the  crown,  slie  was 
hardly  persuaded  to  restore  it  to  the  condition  in 
which  he  k^ft  it.  King  James  I.,  King  Charles  I., 
Archbishop  Laud,  and  all  their  admirers,  instead  of 
removing  fartlier  from  the  superstitious  pomps  of  the 
Church  of  Rome,  have  been  for  returning  back  to 
them,  and  have  appealed  to  the  settlement  of  Queen 
Elizabeth  as  the  purest  standard."* 

The  editor  of  Neale's  work,  Jolm  A.  Choules,  M. 
A.,  adds  a  note  to  the  above,  as  follows: 

"  It  is  evident  to  the  careful  student  of  history 
that  the  Reformation  in  England  produced  its  hap- 
piest effects  in  the  days  of  Edward;  that  the  church 
of  England  has  never  been  so  pure,  as  soon  after  its 
transition  from  popery;  and  that  its  subsequent  al- 
terations have  ever  been  in  favor  of  Romanism." 

With  this  glance  at  the  general  situation,  the  read- 
er is  prepared  to  examine  the  matter  in  hand  more  in 
detail.  We  shall  first  note  the  opinions  of  represen- 
tative men,  and  then  the  enactments  concerning  the 
vSunday  and  its  observance. 

TYNDALE. 

William  Tyudale,  the  translator,  stands  at  the 
head  of  the  list.  He  suffered  martyrdom  in  1533. 
In  his  "Reply  to  Sir  Thomas  Moore,"  we  find  the 
following: 

"  And  as  for  the  Sabbath,  a  great  matter,  we  be 
lords  over  the  Sabbath,  and  may  yet  change  it  into 
the  Monday,  or  any  other  day,  as  we  see  need;  or  may 
make  every  tenth  day  holy  day,  only  if  we  see  a  cause 
why.  We  may  make  two  every  week,  if  it  were  ex- 
pedient and  one  not  enough  to  teach  the  people. 
Neither  was  there  any  cause  to  change  it  from  the 

*  History  of  the  Puritans,  Vol.  1,  p.  55,  New  York,  1855. 


SABBATir    AND      SUNDAY.  2  if) 

Saturday,  than  to  put  a  ditference  between  us  and 
the  Jews,  unci  lest  we  should  become  servants  to  the 
day  after  their  superstition.  Neither  needed  we  any 
holy  day  at  all,  if  the  people  might  be  taught  with- 
out it."* 

JOHN    FKYTH. 

Tyndales  associate,  John  Fryth,  speaks  with  still 
greater  plainness,  in  the  following  words: 

•Our  forefathers  who  were  in  the  beginning  of 
the  church,  did  abrogate  the  Sabbath,  to  the  intent 
that  men  might  have  tin  ensample  of  Christian  liberty, 
and  that  they  might  know  that  neither  the  keeping 
of  the  Sabbath,  nor  of  any  other  day  is  necessary 
according  to  Paul:  'Ye  observe  days,  times  and 
months.'  '  I  am  afraid  of  you,  that  I  have  labored  in 
vain  toward  you. '  How  belt,  because  it  was  necessary 
that  a  day  should  be  reserved,  in  which  the  people 
should  come  together  to  hear  the  Word  of  God,  they 
ordained,  instead  of  the  Sabbath,  which  was  Satui-- 
day.  the  next  day  following,  which  is  Sunday.  And, 
although  they  might  have  ke])t  the  Saturday  with 
the  Jew,  as  ;x  thing  indifferent,  yet  they  did  much 
better  to  overset  the  day,  to  be  a  perpetual  mem  - 
ory  that  we  are  free,  and  not  bound  to  any  day,  but 
may  do  all  lawful  works  to  the  pleasure  of  God  and 
the'proflt  of  our  neighbor.  We  are  in  manner  as 
superstitious  in  the  Sunday  as  they  were  in  the  Sat- 
urday; yea,  and  we  are  "much  niadder.  For  the 
Jews*  have  the  Word  of  God  for  their  Saturday,  sith 
it  is  the  seventh  day,  and  they  were  commanded  to 
keep  the  seventh  day  solemn.  And  we  have  not  the 
Word  ol  God  for  us,  but  rather  against  us;  for  we 
keep  not  the  seventh  day  as  the  Jews  do,  but  the 
tirst,  which  is  not  commanded  by  God's  law.  But 
Paul  biddeth  that  no  man  judge  us,  as  concerning 

*  Works  of  the  English  Roformers,  William  Tyndale  and 
Jolin  Fi-yth,  Vol.  3.  p.  101,  London,  1831. 


2v<'»  SAKBATH     A^'D    SUNDAY. 

holy  (lays,  meats,  and  such  otlicr  exterior  lliirigs-: 
yea,  and  in  no  ways  will  lie  that  we  observe  tliem. 
counting-  them  more  holy  than  other  days.  For  tlicy 
were  instituted  that  the  "peojile  should  come  together 
to  hear  God's  Word,  receive  the  sacraments,  and  give 
Go<l  thanks:  that  done,  they  may  return  unto  their 
houses  and  do  their  business  as  Avell  as  any  other 
day.  He  that  thinketh  that  a  man  simieth  which 
worketh  on  the  holy  day,  if  he  be  weak  or  ignorant, 
ought  better  to  instruct'and  so  to  leave  his  h(>id;  but 
if  he  be  obstinate  and  persevere  in  his  .sentence,  he  is 
not  of  God  but  of  the  devil,  for  lie  maketh  sin  in 
such  as  God  leaveth  free.  According  to  this  ensample, 
I  Avoultl  that  otu-  ceremonies  were  altered:  because 
(as  I  have  said)  the  people  seek  health  in  them,  and 
what  villainy  nioi'e  can  they  do  to  Christ's  blood." - 

rUANMKtt. 

Thomas    Cranmer  (burned   in  loo5),    in  his    (\ite- 
cMsia  tirst  published  1548,  has  the  tollowing: 

"And  here  note,  good  childi-en.  that  the  Jews  in 
the  Old  Testament  were  counnanded  to  keep  the  Sab- 
bath-day. and  they  observed  every  seventh  day. 
called  the  Sabliath,  or  Satiu'day.  JJuf  we  Christian 
men  in  the  New  Testament  are  not  bound  to  such 
(tomman(hnents  of  ]Moses's  law  concerning  differences 
of  times,  days  and  meats,  but  have  liberty  to  use 
other  days  for  our  Sabbath  days  therein  to  hear  the 
Word  of  God,  and  keep  an  holy  rest.  Andtherefore. 
that  this  Christian  liberty  may  be  kept  and  main- 
tained we  now  keep  no  more  the  Sabbath  on  Satur- 
day as  the  Jews  do,  but  we  observe  the  Sunday,  and 
certiiiu  other  days,  as  the  magistrates  do  judge  con 
venient,  whom  in  this  thing  we  ought  to  obey."  f 

*  Declaration  of  Baptism,  p.  i«i. 

•f  Catechism,  p.   40.  Oxford,   ^'i<-if.)\  also  Cox  Sab.  Lit.,  and 
Hessey,  Sunday  Lectures. 


"SABTiATH    AND    Sl'NDAY.  217 

In  another  work.  C'r.iiimcr  reilcr.ites  the  same  doc- 
trine in  these  vvonis; 

•  There  be  two  parts  of  the  Sabl)ath-(la\ . — t»ne  is 
the  outward  bodily  rest  from  all  manner  of  hibor 
an(i  work;  this  is  hiere  ceremonial,  and  was  taken 
awav  with  the  other  sacrifices  and  ceremonies  by 
(Christ  at  the  preaching  of  the  gos[H'l.  The  other 
|)art  of  the  Sabbath-day  is  the  inward  rest,  or  ceasing 
from  sin,  from  our  own  wills  and  lusts,  and  to  do 
only  (rod's  will  and  eommanilments."  .  .  .  "This 
spiritual  Sabl)ath — that  is  to  abstain  from  sin,  and 
to  do  good — are  all  men  bound  to  keej)  all  the  days 
of  their  life,  and  not  only  on  the  Sal»bath-day.  And 
this  spiritual  Sabbath  may  no  man  alter  nor  change, 
no,  not  the  whole  church." 

■That  the  outer  ob.scrvancc  of  the  Sabbath  is 
mere  ecremonial,  St.  l^ud  writrth  plaiidy.  as  that 
the  lioly  days  of  the  new  moon,  and  of  tlu'  Sabbath- 
days  are  nothing  but  shadows  of  things  to  come." 

"  Jerome  alst),  to  the  (xalatians  IV.,  according  to 
the  same,  .saith,  '  Lest  the  congregation  of  the  people 
witliout  good  order,  shovdd  diminish  the  faith  in 
Christ,  therefore  certain  days  wereapj)ointed,  where- 
in we  should  come  togetlier;  not  that  that  day  is 
holier  than  the  others  in  which  wc  come  together, 
but  that  whatsoev(tr  day  we  as.semble  in.  there  might 
arise  greater  joy  by  the  sight  of  one  of  us  to  an- 
other. '  "  * 

C'onc(Tning  civil  enactments  Heylyn  speaks  as  fol 
lows,  after  (juoting  the  opinions  of  Tyndale,  Frytli 
an<i  otliers: 

Now  that  which  was  athrmed  by  them  in  their 
particulars,  was  not  long  afterwards  made  good  b}- 
tlu^  genera]  body  of  this  church  and  state,  the  king,  the 
lords   spiritual   and  temporal,  and  all  the  commons 

*  Confutation  of  irnwritten  Verities,  .Miscellaneous  Writ 
iDKS,  pp.  W.  ♦)!,  Cambridge,  1S46. 


27S  SABBATH     AND    Sl'NDAY. 

met  in  PMrliiiU'iit,  a /mo,  fiftli  .-ind  sixth  of  Khiix  Ed 
ward  VI.,  where,  to  the  honor  of  Ahnighty  God,  it 
was  thus  enacted:  '  Forasmuch  as  men  be  not  at  all 
times  so  mindful  to  laud  and  ]iraise  God,  so  ready  to 
n^sort  to  hear  God's  Holy  AVord,  and  to  come  to  the 
holy  communion  as  their  bounded  duty  doth  require, 
therefore,  to  call  men  to  remembrance  of  their  duty, 
and  to  lielp  their  infirmity,  it  hath  been  wholesomely 
jMOvided  that  there  should  be  some  certain  times  and 
days  ap])ointed,  wherein  the  Christians  slumld  cease 
f]om  all  kinds  of  labor,  and  a]»ply  them.selves  only 
and  wholly  unto  the  aforesaid  holy  works,  ])roperly 
pertaining  to  true  religion,  which  works,  as  they 
may  well  be  called  God's  service,  so  the  times  especi 
ally  appointed  for  the  same,  are  called  holy  days 
Not  for  the  matter  c)f  the  nature  either  of  the' time" or 
day— for  so  all  days  and  times  are  of  like  holiness — 
but  for  the  nature  and  condition  of  such  holy  worki;. 
whereunto  such  times  and  days  are  sanctftied  and 
hallowed;  tliat  is  to  say,  separated  from  all  profane 
uses,  and  dedicated,  not  unto  any  saint  or  creature 
but,  only  unto  God  and  his  true  Worship.  Neither  is 
it  to  ])e  thought  that  there  is  any  cert:iin  time,  or 
definite  number  of  days  prescrilu'd'  in  the  holy  Script- 
ures, but  the  appointment  l)oth  of  the  time  and  also 
of  the  muuber  of  days,  is  left  by  the  authority  of 
God's  Word  unto  the  liberty  of  Christs  church,  to 
be  determined  and  assigiuul  orderly  in  ever}^  country 
l)y  the  discretion  of  the  rulers  and  nunisters  thereof, 
as  they  shall  judge  most  expedient,  to  the  true  set- 
ting forth  of  God's  glory,  and  the  edification  of  their 
|)eoi)l<'." 

"  Nor  is  it  to  be  thought  that  all  of  this  jjreamble 
was  made  in  reference  to  the  holy  days  or  saints 
dtxys  only,  whose  being  left  to  the  authority  of  the 
church  was  never  questioned;  but  in  relation  to  the 
Lord's-day,  also,  as  by  the  act  itself  doth  fully  ap 
pear;  for  so  it  followeth  in  the  act. 

"  Be  it  therefore  enacted,  etc.  .that  all  the  days  here 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  271» 

after  iiu'iitiom-d  shall  be  kept,  and  eoinmanded  to  be 
kejit  holy  days,  and  none  other:  that  is  to  say,  all  Sun- 
days in  the  year,  the  feasts  of  the  Circumcision  of 
ouV  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  of  the  Epiphany,  of  the 
Purification,  with  all  the  rest  now  kept,  and  there 
named  particularly,  and  that  none  other  da}'  shall  Ix' 
kei)t  and  commanded  to])e  kv])\  holy  day.  and  toab 
stain  from  lawful  bodily  labor." 

*'  Nay,  which  is  more, there  is  a  fuither  clause  in  the 
self-same  act,  which  plainly  shows  that  they  had  no 
such  thou<^ht  of  the  J.ord's-day.  as  that  it  was  a  Sab 
bath,  or  so  to  be  observed,  as^the  Sabl>ath  was,  and 
therefore  did  provide  it.  and  enact  by  the  authority 
aforesaid.  '  that  it  shall  be  lawful  to  every  husband 
man,  laborer,  lishermau,  and  to  all  and  every  other 
j)erson  and  ])ersons,  of  what  estate,  degree  or  con- 
dition he  or  they  be,  ui)on  the  holy  days  afore 
said,  in  harvest,  or  at  any  other  time  in  the  year. 
when  necessity  shall  so  re(piire,  t<j  labor,  ride.  tish. 
or  work  any  kind  of  work  at  their  free  will  and 
pleasure,  any  thini!- in  this  act  to  the  contrary  uot- 
witlistandinu'. " 

••  This  is  the  total  of  this  act.  which  if  examined 
well,  as  it  ought  to  l)e,  will  yield  us  all  those  propo- 
sitions or  conclusions,  before  remembered,  which  we 
collected  from  the  writings  of  those  three  particular 
martyrs.  Xor  is  it  to  be  said  that  it  is  repealed  and 
of  n(j  authority,  liepealed,  indeed,  it  was.  in  the 
first  y(;ar  of  Queen  Mar3%  and  stood  repealed  in  law. 
though  otherwise  in  practice,  all  the  long  reign  of 
Qm^en  Elizabeth;  but  in  the  first  year  of  King  James 
was  revived  again.  Note  here  that  in  the  self-same 
Parliament,  tlie  common  prayer  book,  now  in  use. 
being  reviewed  by  many  godly  pi'elates,  was  con- 
firmed and  authorized;  wherein  so  much  of  the  said 
act  as  doth  concern  the  names  and  numbers  of  the 
holy  days,  is  expressed,  and,  as  it  were,  incori)orated 
into  the  same.     Which  makes  it  manifest  that  in  the 


280  SABBATH     AND    SUNDAY. 

purpose  of  tli(^  cinircli.  \hv  Sunday  was  no  otluM-wise 
esteemed  of  than  any  otlier  holy  day.'  "  * 

Such  testimony  from  one  who  was  Sub-Dean  of 
Westminster,  and  chaphun  to  Cliarles  I.,  and  whose 
Hufory  of  the  Suhhath  was  first  |)ublished  in  165)1,  is 
very  iujportant.  It  shows  plainly,  and  beyond  ques- 
tion that  the  same  no-Sabhathism  which  characterized 
the  FJeformation  on  llie  Continent  obtained  in  the 
church  of  England. 

Mary,  who  succeeded  Edward,  was  an  earnest  and 
IKTsistent  papist.  Slie  checked  the  tide  of  refoi-ma- 
tion  and  cursed  the  land  with  her  brief  but  bitter 
reiuii  She  was  succeeded  by  Elizabeth  in  1558. 
who  at  oiuje  set  about  restoring  the  desolations  which 
Mary  had  left  along-  her  bloody  pathway.  But  the 
work  was  less  radical,  and  moved  more  slowly  than  it 
had  moved  under  Edward.  The  "  Act  or  Conformity  '" 
tinaily  drove  the  Puritan  element  out  of  the  chiu-cb. 
IMiis  division  pi-ei)ared  the  way  for  the  fuller  devel- 
opment of  the  Puritan  movement, and  left  the  Estal)- 
lished  Church  to  sink  into  the  stagnation  which  al- 
ways succeeds  partial  reform.  The  state  of  the 
Sunday  question  is  seen  by  the  "  Injunctions."  pub 
lisl\e<l  during  the  first  year  of  Elizabeth: 

•  All  the  Queen's  faithful  and  loving  subjects  shall 
henceforth  celebrate  and  keep  their  holy  day  accord- 
ing to  (xod's  holy  will  and  pleasure,  that  is.  in  hearing 
the  Wold  of  God  read  and  taught,  in  private  and 
pul)lic  prayers,  in  acknowledging  their  offenses  unto 
God  and  amendment  of  the  same,  in  reconciling  of 
themselves  charitably  to  their  neighbors,  where  dis- 
pleasure hath  been,  in  oft-times  receiving  the  com- 
'"  Part  t*.  cliap.  8,  secT^^ 


SABBATH     AN'D    SUNDAY.  ^^81 

.nunion  oi  tlu^  body  an.l  Ivlood  of  Cl.risK  i"vi.itnjg 
Hip  Tx>or  and  sick,  us  iig  all  solx-rness  and  gc»dU  C(m 

erSn  V  .t.  notwithstanding-,  allPai-sons,  \  icars 
i^d  Curates  shall  t.ach  and  declaim  to  their  parish - 
'^nors  tiat  thev  may  with  a  sale  and  qmet  con- 
^1-.,  ;dun-  tlu^r  coimnon  pray;-,  ui  time  of  harves  . 
labor  upon  the  holy  and  festival  days,  and  save   ha 

Nddrh  (}od  hath  sent;  and  if  for  any  scupulosit>     >. 

™Ve  f  e(mscien(-e.  men  should  al.stain  from  work- 
rngo"   thes,.  days,  that   then   they  should -nevoush 

"^^■'^ds'makesitevident  that  (^ueen  Kli/ab.^i  in  he, 
own  parti(Milar.t(>oknotthelx)rd's-dayforaNbM^^^^ 
HO  be  ..fa  different    nature   from    the   other   hoh 
a^.   Nor  was  it  taken  so  bv  the  whole  body  of  cmv 
Church  and  State,   in  the    tirst   Parliament    of    hei 
^S    w't  tinuMt  was  enacted:  ;  tlK.t  all  and  ev.M-v 
c?s()n  and  persons,  inhabiting  wit hm  tf us  realm  and 
^nv  ^her  of  tlu-  (^leen's    dondnions.  ^''^11^:;^;;"^^ 
•indf-dthfullv-havinii-  no  lawful  or  reasonable  ex- 
'!^etoU•^L^ni.--<^r^dv.^vov  themselves  to  repair  to 
H^lr  parish  church  or  chapel,  ^^'-^^-^^^'j;!'^^ 
rea.sorable  let    thereof,  to  ^ome  usual   pi  u  J^bere 
.ommon    prayer   shall  be  used  in   such  tune  of  let 
pou   ('VCMV    Sunday,  and  other  days  ordained  and 
s^d  to  beiept  as  holy  days,  and  then  and  there  to 
b  de  orderly  and  soberly,  during  the  t^m..  of  com- 
mon prayer,  preaching,  or  other  service  of  God,  u})- 
on  imin  of  punishment,  etc. 

This  law  is  still  in  force,  ami  fill  like  to  be, 
.ai<l  by  this  law,  the  Sun.lays  and  hoi)'  days  aie 
:  ke  ri.nrded.  Nor  In'  the  law  ,.nly .  but  by  the  pur- 
n  .e  am  intent  of  the  H.dy  Church,  who  m  her 
nd)lic  1  urg,'  is  as  full  and  large  for  every  one  oi 
hoi  da?s.  as  for  the  Sunday,  the  litrirgy  only 
excep?e^l  I'or  otherwise.  ]>y  the  rule  ^^ikI  prescript 
thereof,  the  same  religious  offices  are  designed  fo 
both,  the  same  devout  attendance  rmmvfj^or  hot  k 
and    whatsoever   else  may  make  both  equal.     And 


2S2  SABIJATII     A2sl)    .SUNDAY. 

(herctoie  by  this  statute,  and  the  coniiiioii  jiraycr 
book,  we  are  bound  to  keep  more  Sabbatli,  than  t)ie 
Lord's-day  Sabbath,  or  else  none  at  all.""  * 

Doctor  Ilessey  s|)eaks  of  the  reiizn  of  Elizalietl).  as 
follows : 

"Practically,  the  ()l>servance  of  Sunday  was  in  a 
very  unsatisfactor}^  state  throuuhout  the  reign  of 
Elizabefii,  A.  D."  loHH-lOOH.  There  seems  to  have 
l)een  i^reat  forgetfulness  of  its  religious  character. 
In  one  of  the  Queen's  injunctions,  Sunday  is  classed 
with  other  holidays,  and  it  is  expressly  said,  that  '  if 
foi"  any  scrujjulosity  or  grudge  of  conscien(;e  some 
should  superstitiously  abstain  from  working  on  those 
'days,  they  sliall  grievously  offend.'  In  fact,  lal)or 
was  almost  enjoined  after  common  prayer.  On  the 
same  principle  we  tiud  the  Queen  granting  a  license 
to  one  John  Seconton,  to  use  certain  plays  and  games 
upon  nine  several  Sundays.  After  a  time,  in  A.  D 
1580,  the  London  Magistracy  obtained  from  her  an 
interdiction  of  this  practice  on  Sunday,  within  the 
h"berties  of  tlie  city.  Elsewhere  it  was  carried  on  : 
and  the  pictures  of  the  Sunday  of  the  period  which 
have  come  down  to  us,  though  somewhat  profusely 
colored,  indicate  a  low  tone  of  feeling  on  the  subject 
of  the  holy  day."  f 

During  the  latter  years  of  the  reign  of  Elizabeth 
wlien,  according  to  Mr.  Hessey.  "The  desecration 
of  Sunda.Y  which  prevailed  seems  to  have  been  most 
appalling,":!;  she  refused  to  sanction  a  law  for  its 
better  observance,  which  had  been  carried  through 
Parliament  b}"  the  Puritan  intiuence.  In  this  she 
only  carried  out  the  doctrine  of  the  church,  and  of  the 
i-eigning  power  wheielw  the  Sunday  was  held  as  m 

*  Heylyn  Hist.  Sab.,  Part  2,  chap.  8.  see  4. 
■*  Sunday  etc..  see.  7.  p.  3(11. 
t  lbi<l..  pp.  20(i.  207. 


SABBATH    AND    SINIJAY.  28') 

holiday  only,  and  not  as  a  Sal)batli.  Neale  .speak- 
of  these  times,  and  this  refusal  oq  the  part  of  tli« 
Queen,  in  the  following  words  : 

"  The  Lord's-day  was  very  much  profaned  by  th( 
encouragement  of  plays  and  sports  in  tlie  evening 
and  sometimes  in  the  afternoon.  The  Rev.  Mr 
Smith,  yi.  A.,  in  his  sermon  before  the  University 
of  Cambi-idge,  the  tirst  Sunday  in  Lent,  maintained 
the  unlawfulness  of  these  plays,  for  whicli  lie  was 
summoned  ])efore  the  Vice  Chancellor,  and  upon  ex 
amination  ottered  to  prove  that  the  Christian  Sab 
bath  ought  to  be  observed  by  abstinence  from  all 
worldly  business,  and  spent  in  works  of  piety  and 
charity  ;  though  he  did  not  appreliend  we  were 
bound  to  the  strictness  of  the  .Jewish  precepts.  Tht 
Parliament  had  taken  this  matter  into  consideration, 
and  passed  a  bill  for  the  better  and  more  reverent 
observance  of  the  Sabl)ath,  which  the  Speaker  ree 
ommended  to  the  Queen  in  an  elegant  speech.  But 
her  Majesty  refused  to  pass  it,  under  j>retence  of  not 
allowing  ParliameiU  to  meddle  with  matters  of  re 
ligion,  wliich  was  her  prerogative.  However,  the 
thing  a])peared  so  reasonable,  that,  without  th( 
sanction  of  a  law,  the  religious  observation  of  the 
Sabbath  grew  in  esteem  with  all  sober  persons,  and 
after  a  few  years  became  the  distinguishing  mark  of 
a  Puritan."* 

In  another  jdaee  Neale  adds : 

"  While  the  bisliops  were  thus  harrassing  honest 
and  conscientious  mini.sters  for  .scrupling  the  ceremo 
nies  of  the  church,  practical  religion  was  at  a  very 
low  e])b.  The  fashionable  vices  of  the  times  wen 
profane  swearing,  drunkenness,  reveling,  gaming, 
and  profanation  of  the  Lord's-day  :  yet  there  was  no 
discipline  for  these  offenders,  nor  do  I  find  any  such 
cited  into  tlie  spiritual  courts,  or  shut  up  in  prisons, 

*  History  of  the  Puritans.  Vol.  1,  p.  170. 


'*84  SABBATH    AND     SUNDAY. 

If  men  came  to  the  parish  chun-hes  and  api)iov('(l  of 
the  habits  and  ceremonies,  other  offenses  were  ovei- 
looked,  and  the  eoiirt  was  easy.  At  Paris  Gardens, 
in  Soutlivvark.  there  were  pnblie  sports  on  the  Lord's 
day,  for  the  entertainment  of  great  numbers  of  peo 
pie  who  resorted  thitiier.  Hut  on  tlie  thirteenth  of 
January.  l)cinii:  Sunday,  it  happened  that  one  of  the 
seaft'olds.  beini;-  crowded  with  people,  fell  down,  by 
which  accident  some  were  killed,  and  a  ;ireat  many 
wounded.  This  was  thou.yht  to  be  a  judgment 
from  heav(!n  ;  for  the  Lord  Mayor,  in  the  account  be 
gives  of  it  to  the  treasurer,  says,  'that  it  gives  great 
occusion  to  ackuowledge  the  hand  of  God  for  such 
abuse  of  the  Sabbath-ihiy,  and  moveth  me  in  con 
science  to  give  order  for  redress  of  such  contempt  of 
God's  service  : '  adding,  that  for  tliis  purpose  he  had 
treated  with  some  justices  of  the  peace  in  Surrey, 
who  expressed  a  very  good  zeal,  but  alleged  want  of 
commission,  vvhicli  he  referred  to  the  consideration 
of  his  lordship.  But  the  court  paid  no  regard  to 
such  remonstrances,  and  tlie  Queen  had  her  ends  in 
encouraging  the  sports,  pastimes  and  revelings  of 
tlie  |)eople  on  Sundays  and  holy  days. "" 

Such  were  the  doctrines  of  tlie  Reformed  Englisii 
Church,  and  such  their  fruits  at  the  opening  of  th<' 
seventeenth  century.  In  1608,  James  1 .  of  Scotland, 
came  into  possession  of  the  scepter.  A  stricter  ol> 
servanc(^  of  the  Sunday  had  obtained  to  some  extent 
among  those  of  the  Puritan  party  who  accepted  the 
doctrines  concerning  the  Sabbath  which  had  jusi 
then  been  publi.shed  \)y  Xicholas  Bound.  Thes( 
efforts  made  by  tlie  Puritans  (-aused  no  little  com 
plaint,  which  led  to  a  declaration  by  the  King,  com 
monly  called  the  '"  Book  of  Sports,  "  which  vvaspub- 
*  Id.,  p.  livt. 


SAltMATH      AN1>    s|   \|».\\.  285 

lisliod  ill  HilS.  Ill  iliis  li<'  (Icclnrt's  tli.-i!  loi-  [he  ^ooil 
of  his  p('oj)l('  il  is  his  pic-isurc  tli.-il  l;i\vful  rccn-M- 
tious  should  he  iillowcd.  .ind  llicrctoic : 

"  After  divine  serviee,  Ihey  shoidd  nol  be  dis- 
turbed, Inudered  oi'  discouraged  fioiii  any  htvvful 
reereatioiis  ;  sueli  as  daneini;-.  eithei-  men  or  women, 
archery  for  men.  leapin*;-  or  xaullini^-  or  any  oilier 
sueli  harmless  irereation  ;  inn-  from  liavinii  May- 
i^ames,  Whitsnn-ales  oi-  Moniee-danees,  and  setting 
u])  of  May-poles  or  olhei'  si)orts  therewith  used  :  so 
as  the  same  be  had  in  due  and  convenient  tiuw. 
without  imi)ediment  or  hindrance  of  divine  service  ; 
also,  that  women  sliould  have  leave  to  carry  rushes 
lo  the  church  for  the  decora  ting  of  it.  acx'ording  to 
Iheir  ancieiU  custom;  withal  prohibiting  all  games 
unlawful  to  be  used  on  the  Sundays,  only  as  bear 
baiting,  bull-baiting,  enterludes  iind.  at  all  times 
prohibited  among  the  meaner  sort  of  people,  bowl 
ing. 

■  A  declaration  which  occasioned  much  noise  :iiid 
clamor;  and  many  scandals  spicad  abroad,  as  il 
these  counsels  hud  been  i)ul  into  that  [)rince's  head 
by  some  great  prelates  which  wi-rc  then  of  most 
power  about  him.  l>ut  on  this  ])oint  they  might 
liave  satisfied  themselves  ih.-it  this  was  no  courl  doc 
nine,  no  new  divinity  which  that  learned  i)iince  had 
been  taught  in  England.  He  had  (h'clan-d  himsei'f 
Ix^fore.  when  he  was  King  of  tin*  Scots,  only  to  the 
sclf-.same  purpose,  as  may  appear  from  hi<  li(tsili<;,n 
Doron,  i>ul)lislied  unno  loDS."* 

Janu's  1.  was  succeeded  by  his  son.  Charles  1.. 
who  took  the  thrc^ne  in  1025.  ;m<l  married  Marie, 
sister  of  Louis  XI 11  of  I'^rance.  She  wa-^  an  in 
triguing  papist,  and  had  great  intluence  over  her 
husband.     Neale  says  : 

*IIey]yirs  Mist.  S:il)..  I'art  •.'.  .-hiu).  s.  see.  ](i. 


:38f>  SABI5ATH    AND     SUNDAY. 

'  The  Queen  was  a  very  great  bigot  to  her  re- 
ligion ;  her  conscience  was  directed  by  her  confessor, 
assisted  by  the  Pope's  nuncio,  and  a  secret  cabal 
(^f  priests  and  Jesuits.  These  controlled  the  Queen, 
and  she  the  King,  so  that  in  effect  the  nation  was 
governed  by  ]X)pish  counsels  till  the  TiOng  Parlia- 
ment."* 

Perhaps  Mr.  Neale  states  the  case  too  stronglj^ ; 
nevertheless,  the  leading  tendency  was  toward  Ro- 
manism rather  than  Protestantism.  William  Laud, 
Bishop  of  London,  became  Prime  Minister  three 
years  after  the  accession  of  Charles  I.  to  the  throne. 
His  character  is  aptly  described  by  one  of  his  contem- 
poraries, Bishop  Hall,  who  says  to  him  in  a  letter  : 

"  I  would  I  knew  where  to  tind  you  ;  to-day  you 
are  with  the  Romanists,  to-morrow  with  us  ;  our  ad- 
versaries think  you  ours;  and  we,  theirs.  Your  con- 
>cieuce  tinds  with  both,  and  neither  ;  how  long  will 
you  halt  in  this  indifference  ?  " 

With  such  men  at  the  head  of  affairs,  it  is  not 
wonderful  that  the  tide  beat  hard  against  reform. 
About  1633,  since  the  Puritan  element  was  gaining 
among  the  people,  efforts  were  made  to  surpress  the 
more  riotous  assemblies  which  were  common  upon 
Sunday.  Laud  took  affront  at  this  so-called  inva- 
sion of  the  domain  of  the  church,  and  complained  to 
the  King.  The  case  was  tried,  the  civil  officers  se- 
verely reprimanded,  and  ordered  to  revoke  their 
enactments  against  the  recreations.  The  results  of 
this  action  are  stated  by  Mr.  Neale  in  the  following 
words : 

*Hi8t.  Puritans,  Vol.  1,  p.  279. 


SABBATH    AND    8UXDAY.  28T 

'  To  encourage  these  disorderly  assemblies  morr 
effectually,  Archbishop  Laud  put  the  Kino;  upon  re- 
publishing his  father's  declarations  of  the  year  1618, 
concerning  lawful  sports  to  be  used  on  Sundaj^  after 
divine  service,  which  was  done  accordingly,  Oct. 
18th,  with  this  remarkable  addition  :  After  a  recital 
of  the  words  of  King  James's  declaration,  his  majesty 
adds,  'Out  of  a  like  pious  care  for  the  service  of 
Ood,  and  for  suppressing  of  those  humors  thai 
oppose  truth,  and  for  the  ease,  comfort  and  recrea- 
tion of  his  majest3^'s  well-deserving  people,  he  doth 
ratify  his  blessed  father's  declaration,  the  rather,  be- 
cause of  late,  in  some  of  the  counties  of  the  kingdom, 
his  majesty  tinds  that,  under  the  pretense  of  taking 
away  an  abuse,  there  hath  been  a  general  forbidding, 
not  only  of  ordinary  meetings,  bm  of  the  feasts  of 
the  dedication  of  churches,  commonly  called  wakes  ; 
it  is  therefore  his  will  and  pleasure,  that  these  feasts, 
with  others,  be  observed,  and  that  all  neighborhood 
and  freedom,  with  manlike  and  lawful  exercises,  ])e 
tised,  and  the  justices  of  the  peace  are  commanded 
not  to  molest  any  in  their  recreations,  having  first 
done  their  duty  to  God,  and  continued  in  obedience 
to  his  majesty's  laws.  Also,  that  publication  of  this 
command  be  made,  by  order  from  the  bishops, 
through  all  the  parish  churches  of  tlieir  several  dio- 
ceses, respectively.'  "* 

The  publication  of  the  foregoing  widened  the 
breach  between  the  Puritans  and  the  government. 
Many  clergymen  were  deposed  for  refusing  to  read 
these  declarations  from  their  pulpits  and  mucli 
trouble  and  persecution  came  upon  all  dissenters. 
These  agitations,  and  the  ripening  of  other  turbulent 
elements,  culminated  in  civil  Avar  in  1642.  The  gov- 
ernment soon  came  into  the  hands  of  the  Puritan 

*Id.  Vol.1,  p.  313. 


288  SABBATH     AND    SUNDAY. 

parly,  and  hence  tlie  civil  history  of  the  Sunday 
from  1H4(>  to  1660  belongs  to  tlie  next  chaplei-.  The 
execution  of  the  Kiuu-  in  1649,  the  estal)lishraeut  of 
the  Cromwellian  Protectorate  in  1658.  the  death  of 
Cromwell  in  1658,  the  military  intiu'regmim,  and  the 
restorati<m  of  ('liarles  II.  in  1660.  are  the  prominent 
points  in  this  turbulent  period.  Tlie  restoration  of 
Charles  and  the  re-establishment  of  the  church  of 
England  were  followed  by  a  peifiod  of  great  moral 
and  social  debauchery.  The  King  gave  himst'lf  up 
to  a  life  of  avowed  lewdness,  and  great  dissoluteness 
prevailed  among  the  baser  sort  of  those  who  adhered 
to  the  throne  and  to  the  State  religion.  In  1661.  tlie 
■ '  Savoy  Conference  "  was  called.  This  was  an  effort 
to  harmonize  the  Puritan  party  with  the  State fe- 
ligion  party.  This  it  failed  to  do.  Concerning  the 
Sunday  at  that  time  and  since.  Dr.  Hessey  s])eaks  as 
follows  : 

"The  Savoy  Conference,  as  we  iia\e  said,  I'clused 
to  make  any  alterations  in  our  authorized  documents 
so  fai"  as  Sunday  was  concerned.  Since  that  time, 
the  church  of  England  has  not  formally  meddled 
with  the  subject.  ^leanwhile,  Sunday  has  gone 
througii  considera))le  vicissitudes.  What  it  was  in 
the  licentious  reign  of  Charles  the  11.  may  be  sur- 
mised from  the  mournful  pictiu-e,  given  by  Evelyn, 
of  the  Sunday  preceding  the  death  of  that  king. 
Puritanism  had  indeed  died  out  in  reference  to  the 
Lord's-da}' ;  but  I  confess  that  the  state  of  things 
which  succeeded  was  worse  than  Puritanism.  In 
the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  centui-y,  there  was  a  re- 
action. Methodism  rose  up.  This  is  not  the  place 
to  discuss  either  the  justifiableness  of  that  move- 
ment, or  the  influence  which  it   lias  hud    upon  the 


iSAlUiATH    AND    SUNDAY.  289 

church  of  P^iigland.  But  1  may  venture  to  quote  a 
passage  from  Earl  Stanhope  wliicli  illustrates  very 
clearly  its  bearings  ui)on  the  itnine(iiat<'  >iubject. 
It  is,"  says  he,  'certainly  one  of  the  ill  effects  of 
3Iethodism  that  it  has  tended  to  narrow  ilie  cirttle  of 
innocent  enjoyments.'  Tlien,  after  mentioning  s<jme 
instances,  he  adds  :  '  Of  one  clergyman,  Mr.  Grim- 
shaw,  who  joiiK^d  the  Methodists,  and  is  much  ex- 
tolled by  them,  it  is  related  by  his  jmnegyrist  :  "He 
endeavored  to  suppress  the  gener;dly  prevailing  cus- 
tom in  coimtry  places  during  the  summer,  of  walk- 
ing in  the  fields  on  the  JvOrd's-day,  between  the  ser- 
vices, or  in  the  evening  in  companies.  He  not  only 
bore  his  testimony-  against  it  from  the  pulpit,  but" 
reconnoitered  the  fields  in  person,  to  detect  and  re 
prove  delinquents. "'  How  different  was  the  saying 
of  good  old  Bishoj^  Ilacket.  •  Serve  God  and  be 
cheerful."  '"- 

The  church  of  England  has  not  spoken  authorita- 
tively upon  the  Sabbath  (juestion  since  the  above 
extract  from  ne8se3''s  work  was  written,  and  hence 
it  is  not  needful  to  trace  the  question  further.  The 
civil  enactments,  which  are  carefully  noted  in  tht^ 
foregoing  pages,  constitute  the  real  authority  con- 
cerning the  Sunday  and  its  observance  in  England. 
The  use  of  the  ten  commandments  in  tlie  liturgy  of 
the  English  church  can  n<»t  be  interpreted  as  favor- 
ing the  idea  of  the  Ssibbath — Satiuday — as  umy  be 
seen  from  the  discussions  and  interpretations  at  the 
time  they  were  first  placed  in  the  liturgy  (1552), 
which  interpretations  aic  sustained  by  modern 
churchmen.  I 

*  .Sunday,  Sect.  8.  p  218. 
i  See-  Cox  SaVi.  Lit.,  Vol.  1,  p.  139:  Heylyn  Hist.  Sab..  Part, 
2,  Cliap.  8,  Sec. .%  and  Hessey,  Sunday  Leet.  5,  p.  149. 

(1.9) 


390  SABBATH    XND    SUNDAY. 

The  "Book  of  Homilies,"  published  in  15(52,  in 
the  homily  on  the  "Place  and  Time  of  Prayer," 
presents  the  claim  of  analogy  between  the  Sabbath 
and  the  Sunday.  This  was  done  to  conciliate  the 
Puritan  element,  which  was  then  beginning  to  sepa- 
rate from  the  church  ;  but  the  homily — which  is  not 
authoritative — teaches  nothing  different  from  what 
is  shown  in  tiio  foregoing  extracts,  concerning  the 
origin  of  Sunday  observance,  or  the  authorit}^  upon 
which  it  is  based.*  Hence  the  case,  as  regards  the 
€lmrch  of  England,  may  be  stated,  briefly,  thus  : 

The  English  church  has  always  taught  that  the 
•civil  and  religious  authorities,  the  state  and  the 
church,  have  power  to  ordain  and  regulate  the  ob- 
servance of  Sunday.  In  her  purest  days,  the  Sunday 
is  placed  on  a  footing  with  the  other  church  holi- 
days. After  the  separation  l)etween  the  churcb  and 
the  Puritan  party,  the  enactments  in  favor  of  Sunday 
were  less  strict,  and  the  practical  observance  of  it 
was  looser  until  the  time  of  Cromwell.  When  the 
church  party  was  restored,  after  the  civil  war,  there 
was  no  improvement  in  theory,  and  none  in  practice, 
except  here  and  there  where  the  Puritan  element 
affected  the  people  in  spite  of  the  teachings  and 
laws  of  the  ruling  power.  If  there  has  been  any 
temporary  or  local  effort  for  a  more  sabbatic  observ- 
ance of  Sunday  since  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  it  has  been  made  by  "  Dissenters,"  and  not 
by  the  church.     The  history  of  the  English  church 

*  See  Cox  Sab.  Lit.,  Vol.  1,  p.  41-^,  aud  Morer,  Dialogues  on 
the  Lord's-day,  p.  299. 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  291 

must,  therefore,  go  in  to  form  a  part  of  the  history 
of  that  ecclesiastical  no-Sabbathism,  which  was  de- 
veloped with  the  papacy,  and  beyond  which  the 
English  church  was  not  carried  by  her  efforts  at 
reformation.  In  further  support  of  this  thought,  it 
is  befitting  to  close  this  chapter  with  the  following, 
from  high  authority  : 

■'  The  founders  of  the  English  Iveformation,  after 
abolishing  most  of  the  festivals  kept  before  that 
time,  had  made  little  or  no  change  as  to  the  mode  of 
observance  of  those  they  retained.  Sundays  and 
holy  days  stood  much  on  the  same  footing  as  days 
(m  which  no  work,  except  for  good  cause,  was  to 
be  performed ;  the  service  of  the  church  was  to 
be  attended,  and  any  lawful  amusement  might 
be  indulged  in."  .  .  .  "Those  who  opposed  them 
(the  Puritans)  on  the  high-church  side,  not  only  de- 
rided the  extravagance  of  the  Sabbatarians,  as  the 
others  were  called,  but  pretended  that  the  command- 
ment, having  been  confined  to  the  Hebrews,  the 
modern  observance  of  the  first  day  of  the  week,  as  a 
season  of  rest  and  devotion,  was  an  ecclesiastical  in- 
stitution, and  in  no  degree  more  venerable  than  that 
of  tlie  other  festivals,  or  the  seasons  of  Lent,  whicli 
the  Puritans  stubbornly  despised."* 

Certain  writers,  notably  Mr.  CrilfiUan,  have  labored 
to  set  aside  the  facts  relative  to  the  no-Sabbathism 
of  the  English  church  and  of  the  Reformers  in  gen- 
eral. In  the  matter  of  civil  enactments  Mr.  GilfiUan 
makes  reference  to  a  summary  of  Sunday  legisla- 
tion in  England,  prepared  by  Kev.  John  Baylee,  in 
which  a  few  enactments  favorable  to  Sunday  are 
mentioned  as  follows  : 

*  Hallam'.s  Constitutional  History  of  England.  Works 
Vol.  4,  p.  227,  N.  Y.,  1»47. 


2^J'i  SABBATH    AND    >LNDA^. 

"The  liitf  clerical  secreUiry  of  the  Society  lor 
Promotinfi  the  due  Observance  of  the  Lords-Day 
has  tlnis  summed  up  the  Sabbath  laws  enacted  in 
England  from  the3^ear  1604:  '  In  the  reign  of  .lames 
I  ,  trading  in  boots  and  shoes  on  the  Lord"s-day  is 
prohibited  by  law.  And  by  an  act  passed  in  the 
first  year  of  the  reign  of  Charles  I.,  it  was  found 
necessar}'  to  restrain  by  a  laic  assemblages  of  personx 
^'rom  mrious  paj'ishes  on  the  Lord's-day.  And  in  the 
second  year  of  the  same  king  tracelinfj  of  carriages 
is  prohibited.  We  can  easily  conceive  how  incon- 
sistent with  such  legislation  'must  h:ive  appeared  to 
his  subjects  the  re-issuing,  on  the  part  of  the  king,  of 
the  Book  of  Sports  of  his  father,  which  \iitually 
encouraged  what  the  act  of  the  first  year  of  his  reign 
pronounced  unlawful.  The  act  of  the  29th  Ch.  tl. 
C.  7,  is  a  very  important  one,  still  in  force,  and 
needing  only  some  amendments,  chiefly  as  regards 
an  increase  in  the  amount  of  the  penalties,  to  render 
it  efficient.  It  prohibits  the  foUotrinrj  of  ordiroiry 
rallim/s,  and  enjoins  upon  all,  publicly  and  privately 
to  exercise  themselves  in  the  duties  of  piety  and  true 
religion.  The  Act  21,  Geo.  III.  C.  40,  has  proved  a 
highl}'  beneficial  law,  in  presenting  places  of  amuse- 
nieat  being  opened  for  payment  of  money  on  the  Lord's- 
day.  The  Act,  though  stringent  and  efficient  for  its 
purposes,  is  evaded  with  impunity  in  London,  per- 
sons being  admitted  to  public  gardens  by  means  of 
refreshment  tickets  purchased  on  the  ordinary  days 
of  the  week.  In  the  reign  of  George  IV.,  and  sub- 
sequently at  different  times,  Acts  were  passed  rcgo- 
latiiig  inns,  taoerns,  etc.  on  the  Lord's-day.  It  is  to 
be  hoped  the  day  is  not  far  distant  wiieu  the  law 
will  require  them  to  be  closed  wholh'  on  the  Lord's- 
day,  with  such  exceptions  as  charity  may  require;  for 
it  is  now  an  established  fact,  that  crime  increases  in 
the  same  degree  in  which  puldic-houses  are  allowed 
to  be  open  on  the  Lord's-day.  'i'he  Act  3  and  4,  of 
William  IV.,  is  deserving  of  spceial  notice.     It  tn- 


SABBATH    AXl)    St'XDAY.  'ZU'^ 

ables  the  ekt'fiot)  of  officers  of  mrporati/^ns,  fornieyly 
required  to  be  helrl  on  th'  Lord's-dai/.  P>  In  lield  on 
Saturday  or  Mmidoy.  It  is  the  Aft  of  the  late  Sir 
Andrew  Agnew.  and  was  passed  in  1838.  The  bill 
was  drawn  up  by  ^Ir.  George  Rockfort  Clarke  ;  the 
preamble  (jf  it  is  important,  for  it  asserts  if  to  he  the 
dyity  of  the  Legislature  to  renioce  ax  much  as  possib/e 
impedimexts  tn  the  diw  obsercance  of  the  Lord's-day. 
Imperfect  as  our  legislation  is  on  the  subject  of  the 
Lor<rs-day.  yet  it  has  proved  a  mighty  barrier  to 
keep  out*^  the  tide  of  profanation  of  the  day  with 
which  the  love  of  gain  and  of  pleasure,  more  than  of 
God.  would  otherwise  have  inmidated  us.  It  has 
also  proved  highly  protective  to  society  in  general, 
in  securing  to  a  population,  the  most  active,  indus- 
trious and  hard- worked  in  Europe,  the  privilege  of 
one  day  in  seven  for  religious  instruction  and  rest.'  '"* 

The  foregoing  is  the  best  possible  showing  that 
can  be  made  concerning  the  existing  Sunday 
laws  in  England,  That  such  enactments  are  and 
have  been  practically  in-operative  and  void  is  seen 
in  the  facts  concerning  the  present  and  past  prac- 
tices of  tlie  people.  On  this  point  we  shall  speak 
further  when  we  make  a  general  summary  of  the 
present  state  of  the  Sunday  question  in  the  Christian 
(Church,  in  which  we  shall  be  obliged  to  array  Mr. 
Gilfillan  against  himself.  Mr.  Gilfiillan  also  makes  a 
great  effort  to  prove  that  the  Reformers,  Continental 
and  English,  were  not  uo-Sabbathists,  by  refei- 
ing  to  or  quoting  their  sayings  concerning  the  divine 
origin  of  the  Sabbath — Saturday — and  the  perpetuity 
of  the  Ten  Commandments.  His  apparent  success 
in  supporting  such  inferences  comes  only,  if  at  all, 

*  Sabbath,  p.  436,  seq.  X.  Y.  edition. 


204  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

from  not  Jicknowledging  that  when  they  thus  speak 
it  is  only  of  the  general  spirit  of  the  law,  and  not  of  its 
letter.  The  most  that  can  in  any  instance  be  made 
to  appear  is  a  tendency  in  some  cases  to  adopt  a  sort 
of  theory  of  "  Analogy  "  between  the  Old  Testament 
and  the  New,  after  the  manner  of  the  Romish 
writers*  of  the  Middle  Ages.  The  very  full  state- 
ments quoted  in  this  chapter  from  unquestioned 
authority,  must  be  shown  to  be  false  before  the  Con- 
tinental and  the  English  Reformers  can  be  taken 
from  the  list  of  no-Sabbathists. 


CHAPTER  X.XIII. 
Puritanism  and  the  Sunday  in 


^ 


NGLAND 


Tfie  more  radical  and  devoted  ones,  who  led  in  the 
work  of  reformation  under  Edward  VI.,  were  so  re- 
strained by  the  conservative  influences  during  the 
reign  of  Elizabeth,  that  they  grew  restive  and  evinced 
;i  strong  tendency  to  separate  from  the  Established 
C'hurch.     The  restrictions  which  were  imposed  by  the 

Acts  of  Conformity  ■  increased  these  tendencies, 
luitil  they  culminated  in  open  separation  about  the 
middle  of  the  sixteenth  century.  At  first  the  Puri- 
tans plead  for  a  better  observance  of  the  Sunday  as  a 
a  part  of  the  general  work  of  civil  and  religious  re- 
form. As  they  continued  to  seek  for  higher  life  and 
greater  purity,  the  Sabbath  (luestion  grew  in  import- 
ance. This  was  not  fortuitous.  Men  never  come 
into  closer  relations  with  God  without  feeling  the 
sacredness  of  the  claims  wiiich  his  law  imposes:  and 
no  part  of  that  law  stands  out  more  prominently 
than  the  fourth  commandment,  when  tlie  heart  seeks 
to  bring  highest  honors  to  him  who  is  at  once  Father 
and  Redeemer,  As  these  men  threw  off  the  shackles 
of  church  authority,  and  stood  face  to  face  with 
God,  recognizing  him  as  their  only  law-giver,  they 


W6  SAIU5ATH    AND  SUNDAY. 

were  driven  toward  higher  ground  concerning  the 
Sabbath  question. 

Since  the  Puritans  had  no  control  in  civil  affairs 
until  the  time  of  the  revolution  under  Cromwell, 
tlieir  dot^trinal  teachings  are  the  only  source  of  in- 
formation pre\'ious  to  that  period.  The  key  note  of 
the  Puritan  theory  concerning  the  Sabbath  and  Sun- 
day was  struck  by  Nicholas  Bownde  (or  Bound),  in 
a  book  entitled,  "  The  Doctrine  of  the  Sabbath,  plainly 
laid  forth  and  soundlif  proven."  This  was  first  pub- 
lished in  lfi95.  The  reader  will  readily  discover  the 
strength  or  weakness,  the  consistency  or  inconsist- 
ency of  the  theory,  from  the  following  copious  ex- 
tracts which  are  made  from  a  copy  of  the  first  edi- 
tion. After  a  preliminary  discussion,  Mr.  Bownde 
opens  the  case  in  these  words  : 

•' First  of  all,  therefore,  it  appeareth  in  the  story 
of  Genesis,  thai  it  was  from  the  beginning,  and  that 
ths  .seventh  day  was  mnrtifed  at  the  first,  as  soon  as  it 
was  made,  insomuch  that  Adam  and  his  posterity,  if 
they  had  continued  in  their  first  righteous  estate, 
should  have  kept  that  day  holy  above  the  rest,  see- 
ing the  I.ord  sanctified  it  for  their  sakes;  and  though 
it  be  so  indeed  tliat  they  should  have  been  occupied 
in  some  honest  calling  and  work  upon  the  six  days 
(according  as  it  is  said  to  Adam,  that  the  Lord  put 
the  man  into  the  garden  of  Eden,  that  he  might  dress 
it  and  keep  it),  yet  notwithstanding,  upon  the  sev- 
enth day  they  should  have  ceased  from  all  worldly 
labor,  and  given  themselves  to  the  meditation  of 
God's  glorious  works,  and  have  been  occupied  in 
some  more  immediate  parts  of  his  service,  according 
to  the  former  commandment.  And  that  we  might 
understand  indeed,  that  the  law  of  sanctifying  the 
Sabbath  is  so  ancient,  the  prophet  Moses,  in  Genesis, 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  297 

doth  of  purpose  use  the  same  words  which  the  Lord 
God  himself  doth  in  pronouncing  it  (as  is  set  down 
in  Exodus),  namely,  that  he  blessed  the  seventh  day 
and  sanctified  it,  and  that  in  it  God  rested  from  all 
his  work  which  he  had  made  ;  to  teach  us  assuredly 
that  this  commandment  of  the  Sabl)ath  was  no  more 
then  tirst  given  when  it  was  pronounced  from  heaven 
I)y  the  Lord  than  any  other  of  the  moral  precepts  : 
uiiy,  that  it  hath  as  much  antiquity  as  the  seventh 
day  hath  being ;  for  so  soon  as  the  day  was,  so  soon 
was  it  sanctified,  that  we  might  know,  that  as  it 
came  in  with  the  first  man,  so  it  must  not  go  out 
but  with  the  last  man.  and  as  it  was  in  the  beginning 
of  the  world,  so  it  must  continue  to  the  ending  of 
the  same,  and  as  the  first  seventh  day  was  sanctified 
s«)  must  the  last  be.  and  as  God  bestowed  this  bless- 
ing upon  it  in  the  most  perfect  estate  of  man,  so 
nuist  it  be  reserved  with  it  till  he  be  restored  to  his 
perfection  again."* 

Mr.  Bownde  next  proceeds  to  argue  that  a  know- 
ledge of  the  Sabbath  existed  from  Adam  to  Closes, 
basing  the  claim  largely  upon  the  fact  of  the  recog- 
nition of  the  Sabbath  as  an  established  institution, 
before  the  giving  of  the  law  at  Sinai,  as  shown  in 
be  sixteenth  of  Exodus.  The  argument  under  this 
head  is  very  well  sustained.  The  New  Testament 
argument  lie  presents  as  follows. 

'■  And  that  this  Sabbath-day,  which  hath  that 
commendation  of  antiquitv  and  consent  which  we 
have  heard,  ought  to  stand  still  in  its  proper  force, 
and  that  it  appertaineth  to  us  Christians  now,  most 
evidently  appeareth  by  the  authority  and  credit 
which  it  receiveth  from  the  gospel  and  New  Testa- 
ment also,  in  which  it  is  so  highly  commended  unto 
us  (that  I  might  not  in  this  place  speak  of  the  other 
*The Doctrine,  etc.,  p.  5,  seq. 


598  SABBATH     AND     SUNDAY. 

manifold  testimonies  that  it  hath  in  the  Old).  And 
by  name  we  may  see  how  oui-  Savior  Christ,  and  all 
his  apostles  established  it  by  their  practice  :  for  they, 
upon  the  Sabbath,  ordinarily  enter  into  the  syna 
!j;ogue!i  and  preach  imto  the  people,  doing  snch 
things  upon  these  days  as  appertain  to  sanctifying  of 
them  according  to  the  commandment."  * 

Mr.  Bownde  next  goes  on  to  show  that  Christ  and 
the  apostles  did  not  observe  the  Sabbath  ceremonially, 
since  they  observed  it  guided  by  the  Holy  Spirit 
long  after  the  ceremonies  were  abolished.  He  quotes 
several  passages  from  the  l)Ook  of  Ads,  and  adds  to 
these  the  argument  founded  upon  tlie  wants  of  our 
race,  showing  that  perpetual,  universal  wants  demand 
a  perpetual,  universal  Sabbath.  He  also  argues  that 
if  Adam  needed  the  Sabbath  before  the  Fall,  the 
world  lost  in  sin  needed  it  much  more.  This  done. 
Mr.  Bownde  answers  certain  commonplace  objec- 
tions to  the  perpetuity  of  the  Sabbath,  and  proceeds 
to  make  a  most  slipshod  and  illogical  effort  at  argu- 
ment in  support  of  a  "change"  from  the  Sabbath  to 
the  Sunday.     His  words  are  as  follow*  : 

"  Now,  as  we  have  hitherto  seen,  that  there  ought 
to  be  a  Sabbath-day,  so  it  remaineth  that  we  should 
hear  upon  what  day  this  Sabbath  should  be  kept, 
and  which  is  that  very  day  that  is  sanctified  for  that 
purpose.  For  I  do  know  that  it  is  not  agreed  upon 
among  them  that  do  truly  hold  that  there  ought  to 
be  a  Sabbath,  which  is  that  very  day  on  which  the 
Sabbath  should  always  be.  Herein  the  Lord  bath 
l)een  merciful  unto  his  church,  and  succored  the  in- 
firmities of  man  in  this  behalf,  and  decided  the  end- 
less  contention   that   might   have   been    about    this 

*l(i.,  p.  y. 


>AB1!ATH    ANI>    f>L;NDAY.  "^Ui) 

m;itter,  in  that  he  hath  told  us  that  it  is  the  seventh 
day  which  lie  hath  sanctified  for  that  purpose.  For 
it  is  in  express  words  said,  in  Genesis,  that  God 
l)lessed  the  seventh  day  and  sanctified  it.  And  in 
Exodus.  •  The  seventll  day  is  the  Sabbatli  of  the 
Lord  thy  God  ;'  and  afterwards  the  same  words  l>e 
repeated  by  Moses  in  Deuteronomy.  Wherefore  it 
must  needs  be  upon  that  day,  and  upon  none  other:  for 
the  Lord  himself  sanctified  that  day,  and  appointed 
it  for  that  purpose,  and  none  but  it  ;  and  therefore 
it  is  tndy  said,  by  that  great  saint.  Augustine.  '  This 
is  found  of  the  Sal)bath  alone, — God  sanctified  the 
seventh  day,'  insomuch,  that  a  man  being  in  con- 
science persuaded  that  he  should  keep  holy  \into  the 
Lord  some  one  day  or  other,  should  ignorantly  choose 
out  some  other  day,  neglecting  the  seventh,  to  sanc- 
tify it  by  resting  from  his  labors,  and  wholly  apply- 
ing himself  to  God's  service,  he  could  not  look  for 
that  blessing  from  God,  which,  no  (loul)t.  the  church 
of  God  doth  find  at  his  hand,  upon  that  day,  by  virt- 
ue of  his  special  promise ;  for  he  blessed  that  day 
and  sanctified  it.  And  as  Peter  Martyr  alledgeth  it 
out  of  Rab])i  Agnon,  '  This  blessing  doth  light  upon 
those  who  observe  and  sanctify  the  same  Sabbath 
which  God  appointed  ;  and  Ave' do  not  read  that  he 
bestowed  that  blessing  upon  any  other  day  which  we 
knoAv  he  did  upon  the  seventh.  So  that  the  sub- 
stance of  this  law  is  natural,  as  Master  Junius  saith, 
and  to  be  observed  of  all  men  alike,  namely,  that 
every  seventh  day  should  be  holy  unto  God.  And 
so  it  is  true  not  only  that  of  every  seven  days,  as 
Peter  Martyr  saith,  "'one  must  be  reserved  unto 
(^od/  and,  a  little  after,  'it  is  perpetual  that  one  day 
in  the  week  should  be  reserved  for  the  service  of 
(xod,'  but  that  this  mu.st  be  upon  the  seventh.  In 
setting  down  which,  I  do  not  so  far  forget  myself, 
but  that  I  remember  that  some,  whom  with  all 
humility  I  do  reverence  in  the  I>ord.  and  give  thanks 
unto  him  for  their  labors,  that  (I  say)  are  otherwise 


300  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

minded,  and  do  not  think  the  church  is  necesaaiily 
tied  to  the  number  of  seven  in  observing  the  day. 
Yet  I  do  not  see  (be  it  far  from  me  that  I  should  oi)- 
stinately  contend  with  any)  where  the  Lord  Iwitli 
given  any  authority  to  his  churcli,  ordinarily  and 
perpetually,  to  sanctify  any  day  except  that  which 
he  hath  sanctitied  himself.  For  I  hold  this,  with 
other  learned  men,  as  a  principle  of  divinity,  that  it 
l)elongeth  only  to  God  to  sanctify  the  day  as  it 
belongeth  to  him  to  sanctify  any  other  thing  to 
his  own  worship."  .  .  .  "Therefore  we  must  needs 
acknowledge  it  to  be  the  singular  wisdom  and  mercy 
of  God  towards  his  church,  thus  by  sanctifying  the 
seventh  day,  to  end  the  strife.  For,  as  we  see  in 
(rod's  service,  when  men  go  away  from  his  Word, 
there  is  no  end  of  devising  that  which  he  alloweth 
not;  and  they  fall  upon  everything,  saving  upon 
that  they  should;  so  in  appointing  the  day  if  we  be 
not  ruled  by  the  Word,  we  shall  find  by  experience 
that  every  day  will  seem  more  convenient  to  us  than 
that,  at  leastwise  we  shall  seem  to  have  as  good  rea- 
son to  keep  any  other  as  the  seventh."* 

Continuing  the  subject  he  presses  the  point  that 
God  .sanctified  the  day  because  in  it  he  had  rested, 
and  that  tlie  Jews  were  not  at  liberty  to  change  even 
"  the  number  of  that  day,"  and  that  they  only  prop- 
erly worshiped  Goa  and  proved  their  love  for  him 
when  they  kept  holy  his  day.  Again  he  draws  his 
conclusion  in  these  words  : 

"Thus  we  learn  that  God  did  not  only  bless  it, 
for  this  cause  (his  resting),  and  so  we  see  that  the 
Sabbath  must  needs  still  be  upon  the  .seventh  day,  as 
it  always  hath  been." 

After   thus  surveying  the  field,  it  is  difficult    to 

*  Id.,  p.  :J0,  et  seq. 


SABBATH     AXD    SUNDAY.  301 

understand  how  Mr.  Bownde  ccHild  be  so  blinded  to 
the  legitimate  deductions  from  his  own  jlririiraents, 
HS  to  talk  of  a  change  of  day.  But  so  strong  were 
liis  prejudices  against  w^hat  he  calls  Judaism  that  he 
clings  to  the  Sunday,  supporting  his  claim  with  the 
following  broken  i-eed  : 

"  But  now  concerning  this  very  siiecial  seventh  day 
which  we  now  keep  in  the  time  of  the  gospel,  that  is 
well  known,  that  it  is  not  the  same  it  was  from  the 
beginning,  which  God  himself  did  sanctify,  and 
whereof  he  speaketh  in  this  commandment,  for  it 
was  the  day  going  before  ouvs,  which  in  Latin  re- 
taineth  its  ancient  name,  and  is  called  the  Sabbath, 
which  we  also  grant,  but  so  that  we  confess  it  must 
always  remain,  never  to  be  changed  any  more,  and 
that  all  men  must  keep  holy  this  seventh  day.  Mhich 
was  unto  them  not  the  seventh,  but  the  Jirst  day  of 
week,  as  it  is  so  called  many  times  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, and  so  it  still  standeth  in  force,  that  we  are 
bound  unto  the  seventh  day.  though  not  unto  that 
very  seventh.  Concerning  the  time,  and  persons  by 
whom,  and  when  the  day  was  changed,  it  appearetli 
in  the  Xew  Testament,  that  it  was  done  in  the  time 
of  the  apostles,  and  by  the  apostles  themselves,  and 
that  together  with  the  day,  the  name  was  changed, 
and  was  in  the  l)eginning  called  the  first  (Jati  of  tJte 
it^eek.  afterward's  the  Lord'sdat/." 

Mr.  Bownde  quotes  onh'  tiro  passages  of  ^Scripture 
in  support  of  the  al)Ove  claim.  Acts  20:  7,  and  2  Cor. 
16  :  2.  In  direct  opposition  to  his  previous  proposi- 
tion, that  the  Word  of  God  alone  is  authority,  he 
devotes  several  pages  to  quotations  and  remarks  con- 
cerning the  "  Doctors  and  Fathers  "  in  the  church, 
seeking  to  show  that  the  early  Christians  changed 
the   observan<-e   from    the    Sabbath  to  the  Suudav. 


302  SABBATH    AXD  SUNDAY. 

These  quotations  are  made  from  those  who  gave 
most  prominence  to  tlie  resurrection  theory  as  a  rea- 
son for  the  change,  and  so,  by  a  sort  of  implication, 
a  degree  of  divine  authority  is  hinted  at.  The  greater 
part  of  the  l)ook  is  occupied  in  discussing  the  manner 
of  observing  the  Sunday,  as  regards  rest  from  labor, 
and  forms  of  public  worship.  (Jreat  strictness  in 
the  one  and  extreme  simplicity  in  the  other  are 
everywhere  inculcated.  The  appearance  or  this  book 
caused  no  little  commotion.  It  was  at  once  adopted 
by  the  Puritan  party.  By  the  church  part}'^  it  was 
strongly  opposed,  as  an  encroachment  upon  Chris- 
tian libert}^  and  as  putting  an  undeserved  luster  and 
importance  upon  Sunday  over  the  other  festivals. 
Rogers,  author  of  the  Commentary  upon  the  Thirty- 
nine  Articles,  in  his  preface,  boasts  that  it  had  been, 
and  would  be  until  his  dying  day,  "the  comfort  of 
his  soul,"  that  he  had  been  instrumental  in  bringing 
this  Sabbatarian  heresy  to  light.  Archbishop  Whit- 
gift  and  Lord-Chief-Justice  Popham  called  in  this 
work  and  forbade  its  reprinting.  It  was  much  read 
privately,  however,  and  after  the  death  of  AYhitgift, 
reprinted  with  additions  in  1606. 

Such  were  the  theories  of  the  Puritans  concerning 
the  Sunday.  It  now  remains  to  trace  its  history  in 
civil  legislation,  and  in  practical  life.  The  visible 
separation  between  these  radical  reformers  and  the 
Established  C-hurch  began  about  1560,  when  they 
were  derisively  called  Puritans.  During  the  re- 
mainder of  the  reign  of  Elizabeth  and  the  reign  of 
her  successor,  James   I.,  they  had  but  little  direct 


SABBATH     AND     SUNDAY.  30:] 

political  influence.  But  as  all  reforms  find  their  first 
welcome  among  the  common  people,  Puritanic  ideas 
and  practices  gained  steadily  among  the  masses. 
The  spirit  of  liberty  was  demanding  release  from 
the  civil  and  ecclesiastical  usurpations  and  oppres- 
sions which  marked  the  ))eginning  of  the  reign  of 
Charles  I.  His  Queen  was  an  open  friend  of  the 
Papists,  while  he  claimed  to  be  the  supporter  of  the 
orthodox  church,  as  fomided  by  Elizabeth.  Laud 
and  his  co  workers  were  the  King's  advisers,  and 
were  at  the  liead  of  the  church  party.  Against  these 
were  arrayed  the  whole  Puritan  i)arty,  and  many 
others  who  could  not  fellowship  the  papistic  ten- 
dency of  the  Court.  In  the  Parliament,  this  in 
eluded  the  body  of  the  "House  of  Commons,"  and 
a  party  in  the  "  House  of  Lords  "  But  the  "  Bench 
of  Bishops,"  who  were  ex  officii*  members  of  the 
House  of  Lords,  for  a  long  time  thwarted  all  efforts 
for  change  or  reform. 

About  l(j40  the  open  struggle  commenced  by  the 
pjissage  of  a  reformatory  bill  in  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, one  provision  of  which  was  for  a  stricter  ob- 
.servance  of  Sunday.  It  was  defeated  in  the  House  of 
Lords;  but  the  discussion  and  agitation  did  much  to 
arouse  the  people,  and  to  disturb  the  security  of  the 
throne  and  the  church  party.  This  would  probably 
have  ended  for  the  time  in  discu.ssion  except  that, 
upon  the  heel  of  the  failure  of  the  bill,  there  came 
the  insurrection  of  the  Papists,  and  the  massacre  of 
the  Protestants  in  Ireland,  on  the  23d  of  October, 
1642.     Strong  suspicions  were  entertained  that  the 


,304  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

Court,  especially  the  Queen,  was  a  party  to  the  plot, 
and  fears  were  aroused  that  a  similar  fate  awaited 
the  English  non-conformists.  The  failure  of  the 
efforts  of  Parliament,  and  of  the  Irish  Protestants, 
to  obtain  relief  for  the  sufferers,  and  punishment  for 
the  offenders,  at  the  hands  of  the  Court,  only 
widened  the  breach  between  the  two  parties  in  the 
government,  and  showed  the  complicity  of  the  Court 
with  the  barbarous  butchery  of  the  Irish.  This  led 
to  a  rapid  separation.  The  IJishops  Avere  soon 
di'iven  from  the  House  of  Lords.  The  King  tied  to 
York,  followed  by  his  party.  The  Parliament  hav- 
ing tried  in  vain  to  obtain  his  co-operation  to  avert 
the  dangers  to  the  kingdom,  took  the  power  into  its 
own  hands.  The  Queen  tied  to  Holland,  from 
whence,  with  her  son-in-law,  the  Duke  of  Orange, 
she  forwarded  supplies  to  the  King.  Each  party  pos- 
sessed itself  of  as  much  territory  and  military  strength 
as  possible,  and  the  King,  marching  against  London, 
was  met  at  "Edgehill.  nearlveinton.in  AYarwickshire" 
by  the  Parliament  forces  under  the  Earl  of  Essex, 
and  the  first  ))attle  took  place  on  the  33d  of  October, 
1643,  just  one  year  from  the  breaking  out  of  the 
Irish  insurrection. 

Two  causes  now  set  to  Avork  to  bring  about  a  luore 
religious  observance  of  Sunday  : 

(a.)  The  Parliament  was  bound,  by  the  turn  mat- 
ters liad  taken,  to  press  the  reforms  for  which  it  had 
been  contending,  among'jwhich  was  the  stricter  ob- 
servance of  Sunday. 

(b.)  The  calamity  of  civil  war   willi  ail  its  horrors 


SABBATH     AND    SUNDAY.  3 05 

was  upon  the  nation,  and  like  all  gTCiit  calamities,  it 
tended  to  make  the  people  more  leligious.  Of  the 
influence  of  the  war,  in  its  early  stages,  on  the  re- 
ligious habits  of  the  people,  Neale  speaks  as  follows  : 

"  Though  the  discipline  of  the  church  was  at  jin 
end,  there  was  nevertheless  an  uucommon  spirit  of 
devotion  among  the  people  in  the  Parliament  quar- 
ters. The  Lord's-day  was  observed  with  remarkable 
strictness,  the  churches  being  crowded  with  numer- 
ous and  attentive  hearers  three  or  four  times  a  day. 
i'he  officers  of  the  peace  patrolled  the  streets  and 
shut  up  all  public  houses.  There  was  no  traveling 
on  the  road  or  walking  in  the  fields,  except  in  cases 
of  absolute  necessity.  Religious  exercises  were  set 
up  in  private  families,  as  reading  the  Scriptures, 
family  prayer,  repeating  sermons  and  singing  of 
Psalms,  which  was  so  universal  that  you  might 
walk  through  the  citj'  of  London  on  the  evening  of 
the  Lord's-day  without  seeing  an  idle  person  or 
hearing  anything  but  the  voice  of  prayer  and  praise 
from  churches  and  private  houses. 

"  As  is  usual  in  times  of  public  calamity,  so  at  the 
breaking  out  of  the  civil  war,  all  public  diversions 
and  recreations  were  laid  aside.  By  an  ordi- 
nance of  September  2d,  1642,  it  was  declared  that, 
'  whereas  public  sports  do  not  agree  with  public 
calamities,  nor  public  stage-plays  with  the  seasons  of 
humiliation,  this  being  an  exercise  of  sad  and  pious 
solemnity,  the  other  being  spectacles  of  pleasure 
too  commonly  expressing  lascivious  mirth  and  levity, 
it  is  therefore  ordained  that,  while  these  sad  causes 
and  set  times  of  humiliation  continue,  public  stage- 
plays  shall  cease,  and  be  forborne  ;  instead  of  which 
are  recommended  to  the  people  of  this  land  the 
profitable  duties  of  repentance  and  making  their 
peace  with  (4od.'"* 

*  Hisr..rv  Puritans.  Vol.  l,  p.  424. 
(20) 


306  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

The  Parliament  party  was  not  at  once  successful. 
The  advantage  seemed  to  be  with  the  Royalists  for 
some  time  after  the  opening  of  the  war.  Concern- 
ing this,  and  its  effect  on  the  observance  of  the  Sun- 
day, Neale  says : 

•'The  Parliament's  affairs  being  low,  and  their 
counsels  divided,  they  not  only  applied  to  heaven  by 
extraordinary  fastings  and  prayers,  but  went  on 
vigorously  with  their  intended  reformation.  They 
began  with  the  Sabbath,  and  on  March  22d,  1642-3, 
«ent  to  the  Lord  Mayor  of  the  city  of  London,  to  de- 
sire him  to  put  in  execution  the  statutes  for  the  due 
observance  of  the  Lord's-day.  His  lordship,  accord- 
ingly, issued  his  precept  the  very  next  day  to  the 
aldermen,  requiring  them  to  give  strict  charge  to 
the  church  wardens  and  constables  within  their  sev- 
eral wards,  that  from  henceforth  they  do  not  permit 
or  suffer  any  person  or  persons,  in  time  of  divine  ser- 
vice, or  at  any  time  on  the  Lord's-day,  to  be  tippling 
in  any  tavern,  inn,  tobacco  shop,  ale  house  or  other 
victualing  house  whatsoever;  nor  suffer  any  fruiters, 
or  herb-women  to  stand  with  fruit,  herbs  or  other 
victuals  or  wares  in  any  streets,  lanes  or  alleys,  or  any 
other  ways  to  put  things  for  sale  at  any  tirne  of  that 
day,  or  in  the  evening  of  it ;  or  any  milk  woman  to 
cry  milk ;  nor  to  suffer  any  persons  to  unlade  any 
vessels  of  fruit  or  other  goods,  and  carrj'  them  on 
shore;  or  to  use  any  unlawful  exercises  or  pastimes  ; 
and  to  give  express  charge  to  all  inn  keepers,  taverns, 
cook  shops,  ale  houses,  etc. ,  within  their  wards,  not 
to  entertain  any  guests  to  tipple,  eat,  drink  or  take 
tobacco  in  their  houses  on  the  Lord's-day,  except 
inn-keepers,  who  may  receive  their  ordinary  guests, 
or  travelers  who  come  for  the  dispatch  "^of  their 
necessary  business  ;  and  if  any  persons  offend  in  the 
premises,  they  are  to  be  brought  before  the  Lord 
Mayor  or  one  of  his  Majesty's  justices  of  the  peace 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  o07 

to  be  punished  as  the  law  directs.  This  order  had  a 
very  considerable  infiueuce  upon  the  city,  which  be- 
gan to  wear  a  different  face  of  religion  to  what 
it  had  formerly  done.  May  5th  the  book  tolerating 
sports  upon  the  Lord's-day  was  ordered  to  be  burned 
by  the  common  hangman  in  Cheapside  and  other 
usual  places;  and  all  persons  having  any  copies  in 
their  hands  were  required  to  deliver"  them  to  one  of 
the  sheriffs  of  London  to  be  burned."  * 

This  fanatical  spirit  and  the  desire  to  gain  the 
blessing  of  God  upon  their  cause  led  to  a  similar- 
observance  of  other  days.  A  monthly  fast  had  been 
ordained,  previous  to  the  commencement  of  the  war, 
in  view  of  the  troubles  in  Ireland.  Concerning  this 
Mr,  Neale  speaks  as  follows  : 

"Next  to  the  Lords-day,  they  had  a  particular 
regard  to  their  monthl}^  fast.  April  24th,  all  con- 
stables, or  their  deputies,  were  ordered  to  repair  to 
every  house  within  their  respective  liberties,  the  day 
before  every  public  fast,  and  charge  all  persons 
strictly  to  observe  it  according  to  the  said  ordinance. 
And  upon  the  day  of  the  public  fast,  they  were  en- 
joined to  walk  through  their  said  liberties,  to  search 
for  persons  who,  either  by  following  the  work  of 
their  calling,  or  sitting  in  taverns,  victualing  or  ale 
houses,  or  in  any  other  ways,  should  not  duly  ob- 
serve the  same,  and  to  return  their  names  to  the 
Committee  for  examination,  that  thej^  might  be  pro- 
ceeded against  for  contempt.  The  fast  was  ob- 
served the  last  Wednesday  in  every  month,  the  pub- 
lic devotions  continuing  with  little  or  no  intermission 
from  nine  in  the  morning  till  four  in  the  afternoon, 
and  (as  has  been  already  observed)  with  uncommon 
strictness  and  rigor."  f 

*Id..  Vol.  1,  p.  454. 
tibid. 


.'30S  SABHATII     AND    Si   N  DAY. 

Then  came  the  'Assembly  of  Divines  at  Wesl- 
minster,"  the  "solemn  league  and  covenant,"  the 
expulsion  of  the  common  prayer  book  of  the  Estab- 
lished Church,  and  the  introduction  of  the  "  Di- 
rf^ctory,' as  the  guide  to  worship  in  the  Parliament 
churches,  the  expulsion  of  royal  professors  from  the 
univei-sities,  etc.,  which  brings  us  to  the  next  enact- 
ment concerning  Sunday,  made  ])y  the  Parliamenf, 
April  6th.  1644.  Neale  briefly  records  with  refer 
ence  to  it  as  follows  • 

'Religion  was  the  fashion  of  the  age.  The  As 
sembly  was  often  turned  into  a  house  of  prayer,  and 
hardly  a  week  passed  without  solemn  fasting  and 
humiliation  in  several  of  the  churches  of  London 
and  Westminster.  The  laws  against  profaneness 
were  cart-fully  executed,  and  because  the  former  ordi- 
nances for  tlie  obser\ation  of  the  Lord's-day  had 
proved  ineffectual  it  Avas  ordained,  April  6th,  thai 
all  per.sons  should  apply  themselves  to  the  exercise 
of  piety  and  religion  on  the  ]>ord's-day  ;  that  no 
wares,  fruits,  herbs,  or  goods  of  any  sort.  l)e  exposwl 
for  sale,  or  cried  a])Out  the  streets!  upon  penalty  of 
forfeiting  the  goods.  That  no  person  without  cause 
shall  travel,  or  carry  a  burden,  or  do  any  worldly 
labor,  upon  penalty  of  ten  shillings  for  the  traveler, 
and  five  shillings  for  every  burden,  and  for  every 
offense  in  doing  any  worldly  labor.  That  no  person 
shall,  on  the  Jjord's-day,  use  or  be  present  at,  any 
wrestling,  shooting,  fowling,  ringing  of  bells  foi- 
pleasure,  markets,  wakes,  church-ales,  dancing, 
games,  or  sports  whatsoever,  upon  ])enalty  of  five 
shillings  to  every  one  above  fourteen  yeirs  of  age. 
And  if  children  are  found  offending  in  the  premises, 
their  parents  or  guardians  to  forfeit  twelve  pence  for 
every  offense.  That  all  May  poles  be  judled  down, 
and  none  others  erected.     That  if  the  several  fines 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  309 

jibove  mentioned  can  not  be  levied,  the  offending 
party  shall  be  set  in  the  stocks  for  the  space  of 
three  hours.  That  the  King's  declaration  cone  rning 
lawful  sports  on  the  Lord's-day  be  called  in,  sup- 
pressed and  burned. 

"This  ordinance  shall  not  extend  to  prohibit  dress- 
ing meat  in  private  families,  or  selling  victuals  in  a 
moderate  way  in  inns  or  victualing  houses,  for  the 
use  of  such  as  can  not  otherwise  be  provided  for ; 
nor  to  the  crying  of  milk  before  nine  in  the  morn- 
ing, or  after  four  in  the  afternoon."  * 

Tracing  the  history  of  the  Puritan  party  through 
these  years  of  strife,  years  of  wide-spread  anarchy  in 
church  and  state,  the  reader  finds  but  few  more 
enactments  relative  to  the  Sunday. 

Tn  1650,  stringent  laws,  with  severe  penalties, 
were  enacted  against  all  the  prominent  vices,  such 
:*s  profaneness,  different  forms  of  licentiousness,  im- 
pious opinions  concerning  God  and  the  Bible,  drunk- 
(^nnes3,etc.    Sunday  came  in  with  these  for  its  share. 

'  Though  several  ordinances  had  been  made  here- 
tofore for  the  strict  observation  of  the  Lord's-day, 
the  present  House  of  Commons  thought  tit  to  enforce 
them  by  another,  dated  April  9th,  16o0,  in  which 
they  ordain,  '  that  all  goods  cried,  or  put  to  sale  on  the 
Lord's-day,  or  other  days  of  humiliation  and  thanks- 
giving appointed  by  authority,  shall  be  seized.  No 
wagoner  or  drover  shall  travel  on  the  Lord's-day,  on 
penalty  of  ten  shilling.?  for  every  offense.  No  per- 
sons shall  travel  in  boats,  coaches,  or  on  horses,  ex- 
cept to  church,  on  penalty  of  ten  shillings.  The 
like  penalty  for  being  in  a  tavern.  And  where  dis- 
tress is  not  to  be  made,  the  offender  is  to  be  put  in  the 
stocks  six  hours.     All  peace  officers  are  required  to 

*Ib.  Vol.  1.  p.  490. 


310  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

make  diligent  search  for  discovering  offenders  ;  and 
in  case  of  neglect,  the  justice  of  peace  is  fined  five 
pounds,  and  every  constable  twenty  shillings.'.'* 

A  few  years  later,  in  1656,  during  the  early  part 
of  the  Protectorate,  Parliament  made  another  effort 
to  enforce  the  strict  observance  of  Sunday,  stimu- 
lated no  doubt,  in  part,  by  the  lawlessness  of  the 
Quakers,  who  were  growing  numerous,  and  who 
opened  their  shops,  and  otherwise  violated  the  civil 
laws  relative  to  Sunday  observance.  The  enact- 
ment as  given  by  Neale  is  as  follows : 

"  As  new  inroads  were  made  upon  the  ordinances 
for  observation  of  the  Sabbath,  the  Parliament  took 
care  to  amend  them.  This  year  they  ordained  that 
'the  Sabbath  should  be  deemed  to  extend  from 
twelve  of  the  clock  on  Saturday  night  to  twelve  of 
the  clock  on  Lord's-day  night,'  and  within  that  com- 
pass of  time  they  prohibited  all  kinds  of  business  and 
diversions,  except  works  of  necessity  and  mercy.  No 
election  of  magistrates  is  to  be  on  the  Lord's-day;  no 
holding  of  courts  or  return  of  writs,  l)ut  if  according' 
to  their  charters  they  fall  upon  the  Lord's  day,  they 
are  to  be  deferred  to  Monday.  That  all  persons  no\ 
having  a  reasonable  excuse,  to  be  allowed' by  a  justice 
of  the  peace,  shall  resort  to  sonie  church  or  chapel 
where  the  true  worship  of  God  is  performed,  or  to  some 
meeting  place  of  Christians  not  differing  in  matters 
of  faith  from  the  public  profession  of  the  nation,  on 
a  penalty  of  two  shillings  and  six  pence  for  every 
offense.  It  is  further  ordered,  that  no  minister  shall 
be  molested  or  disturbed  in  the  discharge  of  hisoflSce 
on  the  Lord's-day,  or  any  other  day  when  he  is  per- 
forming his  duty,  or  in  going  and  coming  from  the 
place  of  public  worship.'    Nor  shall  any  willful  dis- 

*  Neale.  Hist.  Puritans.  Vol.  2.  p.  118. 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  :U  1 

turbance  be  given  to  the  congregation,  on  penalty  of 
live  pounds,  or  being  sent  to  the  workhouse  six 
months,  provided  the  information  be  within  ont' 
month  after  the  offense  is  committed.  This  ordi- 
nance is  to  be  read  in  every  chapel  in  this  nation  an- 
nually, the  first  Lord's-day  in  every  March."* 

Soon  after  this  came  the  "Restoration,"  under 
Charles  II.,  and  Puritanism,  as  a  controlling  power 
in  the  government,  passes  out  of  sight.  Whatever 
may  be  said  concerning  the  course  of  the  Puritan 
party  as  a  political  power,  it  is  evident  that  the 
moral  character  of  the  people  was  much  improved 
during  its  supremacy.  Rigid  and  intolerant,  it 
nevertheless  possessed  much  more  of  true  religion  and 
vital  piety  than  the  formalists  did  who  preceded  and 
followed  it.  Many  of  the  corrupt  elements  in  church 
and  state  which  could  not  be  reformed  were  exiled. 
But  with  the  restoration  under  Charles  II.,  thest- 
came  swarming  back,  and  in  turn  harrassed  and 
drove  out  the  Puritans.  Mr.  Neale  sums  up  the 
case  in  these  words  : 

"  And  here  was  an  end  of  those  distracted  times 
which  our  historians  have  loaded  with  all  the  infamy 
and  reproach  that  the  wit  of  man  could  invent.  The 
Puritan  ministers  have  been  decried  as  ignorant 
mechanics,  canting  preachers,  enemies  to  learning, 
and  no  better  than  robbers.  The  Universities  were 
said  to  be  reduced  to  a  mere  Munster,  and  tli.it  if  the 
Goths  and  Vandals,  and  even  the  Turks  had  over- 
run the  nation,  they  could  not  have  done  more  to 
introduce  barbarism,  disloyalty  and  ignorance ;  and 
yet  in  these  times,  and  by  the  men  who  then  filled 
flie  university  chairs  were  educated  the  most  learned 

*  Id.,  Vol.  ?,  p.  166. 


312  SABBATH     AND    SUNDAY. 

diviues  aud  eloquent  preachers  of  the  last  age,  as  the 
Stillingfleets,  Tillotsons,  Bulls,  Barrows,  Whitbys 
aud  others,  who  retained  a  high  veneration  for  their 
learned  tutors  after  they  were  rejected  and  displaced. 
The  religious  part  of  the  common  people  has  been 
stigmatized  with  the  character  of  hypocrites  ;  their 
looks,  their  dress  and  l)ehavior  have  been  repre- 
^*ented  in  the  most  odious  colors  ;  and  yet,  one  may 
venture  to  challenge  these  declaimers  to  produce  any 
period  of  time  since  the  Reformation  wherein  there 
was  less  open  profaneness  and  Impiety  and  more  of 
the  spirit,  as  well  as  the  appearance  of  religion. 
Perhaps  there  was  too  much  rigor  and  preciseness  in 
indifferent  matters  :  but  the  lusis  of  men  were  laid 
under  a  visible  restraint,  and  though  the  legal  consti- 
tution was  unhappily  broken,  and  men  were  gov- 
erned b}'  false  politics,  yet  better  laws  were  never 
made  against  vice,  or  more  vigorously  executed. 

•'The  dress  and  conversation  of  the  people  were 
sober  and  virtuous,  and  their  manner  of  living  re- 
markably frugal.  There  was  hardly  a  single  bank- 
ruptcy to  be  heard  of  in  a  year ;  and  in  such  a  case  the 
bankrupt  had  a  mark  of  infamy  set  upon  him, 
which  he  could  never  wipe  off.  Drunkenness, 
fornication,  profane  swearing,  and  every  kind  of 
debauchery  were  justly  deemed  infamous,  and  uni- 
versally condemed.  The  clergy  were  laborious  to 
excess,  in  preaching  and  praying,  in  catechising 
youth,  and  visiting  their  parishes.  The  magistrates 
did  their  duty  in  suppressing  all  kinds  of  games, 
stage  plays  and  abuses  in  public  houses.  There  was 
not  a  play  acted  in  any  theater  in  England  for  almost 
twenty  years.  The  Lord's-day  was  observed  with 
unusual  reverence  ;  and  there  was  a  set  of  as  learned 
and  pious  youths  trained  up  in  the  University  as  had 
ever  been  known. 

"But  when  the  legal  constitution  was  restored, 
there  returned  with  it  a  torrent  of  debauchery  and 
wickedness.     The  times  which  followed  the  Restora- 


SABBATH     AND    SUNDAY.  'SV4 

tioii  were  the  reverse  of  those  which  preceded  it;  for 
tlie  law^s  which  had  been  enacted  against  vice  for  the 
last  twenty  years,  being  declared  nidi,  and  the  magis- 
trates changed,  mensetno  bounds  to  their  licentious- 
ness. A  proclamation,  indeed,  was  published  against 
those  loose  and  riotous  cavaliers,  whose  loyalty  con- 
sisted in  drinking  healths,  and  railing  at  those  who 
woidd  not  revel  with  them.  But,  in  reality,  the  King 
was  at  the  head  of  these  disorders,  being  "devoted  to 
his  pleasures,  and  having  given  himself  up  to  an 
avowed  course  of  lewdness.  His  bishops  and  chap- 
lains said  tliat  he  usually  came  from  his  mistresses' 
apartments  to  church,  even  on  sacrament  days. 
There  were  two  play-houses  erected  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  the  court.  Women  actresses  were  intro- 
duced into  the  theaters,  which  had  not  been  known 
imtil  that  time;  the  most  lewd  and  obscene  plays 
were  l)rought  on  the  stage,  and  the  more  obscene, 
the  King  was  better  pleased,  who  graced  every  new 
play  with  his  royal  presence.  Nothing  was  to  be 
seen  at  court  but  feasting,  hard  drinking,  reveling 
and  amorous  intrigues,  which  engendered  the  most 
enormous  vices.  From  court,  the  contagion  spread 
like  wild-fire  among  the  people,  insomuch  that  men 
threw  off  the  very  profession  of  virtue  and  piety, 
under  color  of  drinking  the  King's  health.  All  kinds 
of  old  cavalier  riotings  and  debaucherj-  revived.  The 
appearance  of  religion,  which  remained  with  some, 
furnished  matters  of  ridicule  to  libertines  and  scoffers. 
Some  who  had  been  concerned  in  the  former  change.^ 
tliought  they  could  not  redeem  their  credit  better 
than  by  deriding  all  religion,  and  telling  or  making- 
stories  to  render  their  former  party  ridiculous.  To 
appear  .serious,  or  to  make  conscience  either  of  words 
or  actions,  was  the  way  to  be  accounted  a  schismatic, 
a  fanatic,  or  a  sectarian,  though,  if  there  was  any 
real  religion  during  the  course  of  this  reign,  it  was 
chiefly  among  those  people.  They  who  did  not  ap- 
plaud the  new  ceremonies  were  marked  out  as  Pres- 


314  SABBATH     AiXD    SUNDAY. 

byteriaiiH,  and  every  Presbyterian  was  a  rebel.  The 
old  clergy,  who  had  been  sequestered  for  scandal, 
having  taken  possession  of  their  livings,  were  intoxi- 
cated with  their  new  felicity,  and  threw  off  all  the 
restraints  of  their  ordei-.  Every  week,  sa}'s  Mr. 
Baxter,*  produced  reports  of  one  or  other  clergy- 
man, who  was  taken  up  by  the  watch,  drunk,  at 
night,  and  mobbed  in  the  streets.  Some  were  taken 
with  lewd  women ;  and  one  was  reported  to  be 
drunk  in  the  pulpit.  Such  was  the  general  disso 
luteness  of  manners  which  attended  the  deluge  of 
joy,  which  overflowed  the  nation  upon  his  majesty's 
restoration."  f  '      ' 

For  twenty-five  years  (until  1683)  did  this  profligate 
libertine,  surrounded  by  a  court  like  himself,  carry 
on  his  ruinous  rule.  Sunday  observance  shared 
lai-gely  in  the  general  decline,  especially  since  it  had 
been  maintained  before  in  a  great  degree  by  the  civil 
power.  Popery,  secretly  favored  by  the  King,  grew 
strong.  The  Puritan  or  Parliament  party,  now 
known  under  the  general  name  of  Nonconformists, 
was  divided  into  Presbyterians,  Independents,  Bap- 
tists, Quakers,  etc. ,  all  of  whom  were  most  bitterly 
persecuted.  Among  these,  the  Quakers,  holding 
within  their  number  many  educated  and  influential 
men,  though  extremely  strict  in  other  respects,  ig- 
nored all  ideas  of  a  Ssdjbath,  oi"  any  obligation  to 
observe  days.:}:  Thus  between  the  reigning  disso- 
luteness, and  the  revival  of  the  earlier   doctrine   of 

*  Life,  part  2,  p.  'J88. 
tld.,  Vol.  2,  p.  208. 
^:  For  their  views,  see  Dymond's  essays  on  the  Principles 
of  Morality,  essay  2,  chap  1,  and  the  Doctrines  of  Friends, 
by  Elisha  Bates,  chap.  13. 


-      SA.BBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  315 

"no  sacred  time,"  the  strict   observance  of  Sunday 
was  largely  ignored. 

It  was  not  until  the  fifth  year  of  the  reign  of  George 
I.  (1719)that  a  complete  recognition  of  the  Non  con- 
formists, and  a  general  toleration  of  dissenters  was 
obtained.  There  was  little  or  no  improvement  in 
the  observance  of  Sunday  until  the  middle  of  tlu- 
eighteenth  century.  The  church  of  England  retains 
her  old  standards  concerning  Sunday.  The  English 
Dissenters  are  now  much  less  rigid  in  their  observance 
of  it  than  the  Puritans  were.  The  church  of  Ireland 
lias  always  been  too  nearlv  allied  to  the  church  of  Eng- 
land on  this  point  to  need  any  separate  notice  hen-. 
The  church  of  Scotland  has  been,  and  yet  is  more 
Puritanic  concerning  Sunday.  The  following,  from 
the  pen  of  Doctor  He.s,sey,  will  sufficiently  illiistrate 
its  most  rigid  features  : 

"Meanwhile,  in  Scotland,  the  Sabbatarian  doc- 
trines had  taken  deep  root,  and  were  improved  into 
jin  elaborate  system.  Four  examples  shall  suffice. 
In  1644  the  Six  Sessions  ordained  public  intimation 
to  be  made  that  '  no  person,  man  nor  woman,  shall 
be  found  vaging,  walking,  and  going  upon  the  strecits 
on  the  Lords-day  after  the  afternoon's  sermon,  keep- 
ing idle,  and  entertaining  impertinent  conferences.' 
In  the  next  year,  the  same  court  ordained  that  '  the 
inagistrates,  attended  by  the  ministers  by  course, 
shall  go  up  and  down  the  streets  upon  the  Lord's-day , 
after  the  afternoon  sermon,  and  cause  take  particular 
notice  of  such  as  shall  be  found  forth  of  their  houses 
vaging  abroad  upon  the  streets,  and  cause  cite  them 
before  the  Session  to  be  rebuked  and  censured.'  And 
on  the  5th  of  April,  1658,  this  direction  was  issued  : 
'  The  magistrate^  to  cause  some   English  soldiers   go 


316  vSABBATH     AND    SUNDAY. 

along-  the  streets,  and  those  ouiparts  jibove  written, 
l)Oth  before  sermon  and  after  sermon,  and  lay  hold 
upon  both  young  and  old  whom  they  find  out  of 
their  houses  or  out  of  the  church.' 

"  My  fourth  instance  shall  be  taken  from  the  re- 
cords of  the  Presbytery  of  Strath-bogie,  June  6,  A. 
D..  1658:  The  said  day,  Alexander  Cairnie,  In  Til- 
liochie  was  delaitit  for  brak  of  Sabbath,  in  bearing 
ane  sheep  up  his  back  from  the  pasture  to  his  own 
house.  The  said  Alexander  compeirit  and  declarit 
that  it  was  of  necessitie  for  saving  of  the  beasts  lyfe 
in  tyme  of  storme;  was  rebuked  for  the  same,  and 
admonished  not  to  do  the  lyke."  * 

Since  those  years,  the  continental  no-Sabbathisjn 
has  crept  into  Scotland  somewhat  largely,  and  for 
■<ome  time  past  a  war  has  been  going  on  between  it 
and  the  Puritan  element,  concerning  "  Sundaj 
trains,"  and  the  like.  The  general  tendency  seeiiui 
to  be  to  the  more  liberal  views. 

More  will  be  said  on  the  present  state  of  the  ques- 

tion  in  a  succeeding  chapter. 

*  Sunday,  Lect.  7,  p.  216. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 
The   ^abbath  in  ^urope  ^ince 

THE   Reformation. 

The  history  of  the  Sabbath  during  the  early    years 
of  the  Reformation  is  necessarily  meager.     The  de- 
scendents  of  the  Waldense*; in  Bohemia,  Holland,  and 
other  parts  of  Northern  Europe,  seem  to  have  formed 
llie  material  for   Sabbath-keeping  churches   which 
came  to  light  when  the  rays  of  Reformation  began 
to  illumine  the  long  continued  night  of  Papal  a^jos- 
tasy.      These    Sabbath-keepers    were   Baptists,    and 
lience  were  classed  with  the  despised  "  Anabaptists,' 
who  were  made  still  more  odious  by  the  fanaticism 
of  a  few  at  Munster  during  the  early  part  of  the  six- 
teenth century.     Most  writers  have,  therefore,  passed 
over  the  history  of  these  years  by  saying  of  Sabbatli 
observance,  that  it  was  "revived  by  some  sectaries 
among   the   Anabaptists,'"    or   words  to  this  eft'ect. 
When  Sabbath-keei)ers  were  persons  of  prominence, 
more  definite  notice  is  taken  of  them.     Enough  can 
>M^.  gathered,  however,  to  show  that  Sabbath-keepers 
were   not   uncommon  on  the  continent   of   Europe, 
from  the  opening  of  the  sixteenth  century  forward. 
An  old  German  historian,  John  Sleidan,  speaking  of 
a  sect  in  Bohemia  called  "  Picards,"  says  : 


318  SABBATH     AND    SUNDAY. 

''They  admit  of  nothing  but  the  Bible.  Thej 
choose  their  own  priests  and  bishops  ;  deny  no  man 
marriage,  perform  no  oiRces  for  the  dead  and  have 
but  very  few  holy  days  and  ceremonies."* 

These  are  the  same  people  to  whom  Erasmus  re- 
fers, representing  them  as  extremely  strict  in  observ- 
ing the  Sabbath.  Robert  Cox  in  his  "  Sabbath  Lit- 
erature," makes  them  the  progenitors  of  the  Seventh- 
day  Baptists.     He  says: 

"With  reference  to  the  origin  of  this  sect,  (Sev- 
(3nth-day  Baptists,)  I  find  a  passage  in  Erasmus,  that 
at  the  early  period  of  the  Reformation  when  he 
wrote  there  were  Sabbatarians  in  Bohemia,  who  not 
only  kept  the  seventh  day,  but  were  said  to  be  so 
scupulous  in  resting  on  it,  that  if  anything  went  into 
their  eyes  they  would  not  remove  it  till  the  morrow. "  f 

The  passage  from  Erasmus  is  as  follows: 

'  Nunc  audimus  apud  Bohemos  exoriri  novum  Ju- 
d«orum  genus  Sabbatarios  appellant,  qui  tanta  su- 
perstitione  servant  Sabbatum,  ut  si  quid  eo  die 
inciderit  in  oculum,  nolint  eximere;  quasi  non  suffi- 
ciat  eis  pro  Sabbato  Dies  Dominicus  qui  Apostolis 
etiam  erat  sacer,  aut  quasi  Christus  non  satis  express- 
erit  quantum  trlbuedum  sit  Sabbati.'":}: 

Hospinian  of  Zurich  in  his  treatise  De  Festis  Judceo- 
rum  et  EHmicorum,  Cap.  iii,  (Tiguri. — 1593,)  replies 
to  the  arguments  of  these  Sabbatarians.  The  story 
concerning  their  extreme  strictness  on  the  Sabbath  is 
doubtless  a  forgery.  But  inasmuch  as  they  accepted 
the  Bible  as  their  only  guide,  it  is  not  wonderful 
that  the}''  refused  to  place  the  "  Dies  Dominicus  be- 

*  History  of  the  Refoi'mation,  etc,  p.  53,  London,  1689;  also, 
French  edition  of  1787.  Vol.  1,  p.  117.    +  Vol.  2,  pp.  201,  202. 

tDe  Amabili  Ecclesiae  Concordia,  Op.  torn.  V,  p.  506 ;  Lugd. 
Bat.  1704. 


SABBATH     AND    SUNDAY.  311) 

fore  the  Sabbath,"  since  the  Bible  gives  uo  authority 
for  such  a  course .  Doctor  Hessey*  refers  to  these 
same  Sabbatarians  as  the  origin  of  the  present  Sev- 
enth-day Baptists.  A  voluminous  work  by  Alexan- 
der Ross,  speaking  of  these  people  at  the  beginning 
of  the  Reformation,  says  : 

"Some  only  will  observe  the  Lord's-da}' ;  some 
only  the  Sabbath  ;  some  both,  and  some  neither."  f 

Bishop  White,  speaking  of  Sabbath  observance 
bears  this  testimony : 

"  The  same  likewise  l)cing  revived  in  Luther's 
1  ime  by  Carlstadius  and  Sternebergius,  and  by  some 
-sectaries  among  the  Anabaptists,  hath  both  then  and 
ever  since  been  censured  as  Jewish  and  Heretical."  X 

Ross,^  above  quoted,  bears  concurrent  testimony 
to  the  Sabbatarianism  of  Sterneberg.  Carlstadt  it 
will  be  remembered  was  an  intimate  friend  of  Luther, 
between  whom  and  himself  a  separation  was  initiated 
because  of  Carlstadt's  extreme  radicalism  in  his  plans 
of  reformation. 

Mr.  Gilflllan  quotes  a  writer  of  the  year  1585, 
one  John  Stock  wood,  who  states  that  in  those  times 
there  were  "  manifold  disputations  among  the 
learned,"  and  "a  great  diversity  of  opinion  among 
the  vulgar  people  and  simple  sort,  concerning  the 
Sabbath-day,  and  the  right  use  of  the  same,  some 
maintaining  the  changed  and  unchangeable  obliga- 
tions of  the  Seventh-day  Sabbath,  etc'  || 

*  Lectures  on  Sunday,  p.  374.— Note. 
t  A  View  of  all  Religions  in  the  World,  etc.,  p.  237.— Lon- 
don, 1653. 

t  Treatise  of  the  Sabbath  Day,  p.  8- 

§  View  of  all  IJeligions,  p.  235. 

il  Sabbath,  p.  60. 


.-)2<>  SABBATH    AND    8UNJ)Ay. 

Chambers'  Cydopydia  refers  to  the  Bolieniian  Sm1> 
tiath-keeper!;;,  and  others  as  follows  : 

"  Accordingly,  in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  it  oc- 
curred to  many  conscieutious  ;jnd  independent 
thinkers,  (as  it  had  previously  done  to  some  Protes- 
fants  in  Bohemia,)  that  the* Fourth  Commandment 
required  of  them,  the  ol)servanee.  not  of  the  first, 
but  of  the  specified  .seventh  day  of  the  week,  and  a 
•strict  bodily  rest,  as  a  service  then  due  to  God.  They 
became  numerous  enough  to  make  a  eonsiderablV 
figure  for  more  than  a' century  in  England,  under 
the  title  of  "  Sabbatarians'— a  word  now  exchanged 
for  the  less  ambiguous  appellation  of  '  Seventh-day 
Baptists."  .  .  .  "They  have  nearly  disappeared  in 
England,  though  in  the  seventeenth  century  so 
numerous  and  active  as  to  have  called  fortli  replies 
from  Bishop  White.  Warner,  Baxter,  Bujiyan,  Wal- 
Us  and  others."  ^* 

Thus  it  is  seen  that  there  were  Protestant  Sabbatli- 
keeping  Baptists  in  Bohemia.  Holland  and  England, 
as  early  as  the  Ijeginning  of  the  sixteenth  century. 
This  link  unites  the  past  with  the  present,  and  gives 
an  unbroken  chain  of  Sabbath-keepers  from  the  days 
of  Christ,  the  Lord  of  the  Sabbath,  to  the  pres- 
ent hour.  The  church  has  never  been  without  wit- 
nesses for  the  truth  concerning  God's  lioly  day. 

The  complete  development  and  organization  of 
l^he  Seventh-day  Baptists  in  England,  is  easily  traced. 
In  these  pages  this  will  be  done  first,  by  noting  the 
authors  and  martyrs,  among  them  whose  names  ap- 
pear in  history,  and  second  by  giving  a  brief  history 
of  tlieir  organized  churches. 

Among  the  first  who  tauglit  the  truth  relative  tc» 
*  Article,  Sabbath,  Vol.  S— T.ondon,  iH.ifi. 


SAI5BATH    AXD    SUNDAY.  321 

tlie  iSabhatl).  and  sullVrcd  ior  it.  was  John  Trask — 
spelled  also  Tiasque  and  Thraske — Ephriani  Pag- 
gitt,  in  his  •  •  Clnirch  Herisiography."'  devotes  more 
than  titty  pages  to  the  liistory  of  Trask,  his  wife, 
and  his  followers.  From  this  it  appears  that  he  first 
began  to  observe  the  iSunday  aeeording  to  the  law  of 
the  fourth  eonnnandment.  One  of  his  comrades. 
Laekson.  (Hessey  says  Jaekson.)  carrying  tlie  <pics- 
tion  on  to  its  legitimate  results,  taught  that  the  day 
mentioned  in  the  law  must  be  observed.  Trask  ac- 
cepted this  and  many  more  with  him.  Paggitt  men- 
tions William  Hillyard.  Christopher  Sands,  ]yirs. 
Mary  Chester,  wlio  w  as  afterwards  imi)ris()ned.  l{c\ . 
Mr.  Wright  and  his  wife.  He  also  mentions  in  the 
same  connection,  "  One  Mr.  llebden.  a  prisoner  in 
the  new  prison,  that  lay  there  for  holding  Saturday 
Sabbath."  Mrs.  Chester  was  kept  in  prison  for  some 
time,  but  was  tinally  released  upon  herappaicnt  con- 
version to  the  church.  But  her  tendent-y  to  tlic 
truth  was  too  strong,  and  "  twelve  months  after  she 
was  set  at  liberty,  she  relapsed  into  her  former  ei- 
rors."  Paggitt  charges  Trask  and  his  followers  with 
Judaical  opinions  concerning  Christ :  but  the  charge 
seems  to  have  grown  out  of  the  fact  thai  they  ob- 
served the  Sabbath,  and  no  •otliciar"  cliargc  of 
this  kind  is  made  against  them  on  their  trials. 

Mrs.  Trask,  before  her  imprisonjuent  kept  a  pri 
vat^'  school  tor  children,  having  one  assistant  teachei- 
who  was  also  a  Sabl)ath-keeper.  Attention  was 
drawn  to  lier  Sabbatarian  principles,  from  the  fact 
that  she  woidd  not  teach  ui)on  the  Sabl)ath.  and  on 
(21) 


.■)22  8ABBATH    \.Nl>    SUNDAY. 

Tho  trial  yhe  was  coudemued  to  impiisonniont.*  Con- 
(lerning  wliicli  Paggitt  speakn  as  follows  : 

"  Hi8  wife,  Mistress  Trask.  lay  for  fifteen  or  six- 
teen years  a  prisoner  for  her  oi)inions  about  the  Sat- 
urday-Sabbath ;  in  all  which  time  she  would  receive 
no  relief  from  anybody,  notwithstanding  she  wantefl 
much,  alledgingthat  it  is  written,  '  it's  a  more  blessed 
thing  to  give  than  to  receive. '  Neither  would  she  bor- 
row. Siie  deemed  it  a  dishonor  to  h(;r  head,  Christ, 
cither  to  beg  or  borrow.  Ilei-  diet  for  the  most  pari 
of  her  imprisonment,  that  is  till  a  little  before  her 
death  was  bread  and  water,  roots  and  herbs.  No 
tlesh,  nor  wine,  nor  brewed  drink. "  ,  .  .  "  She  charged 
tlie  keeper  of  the  prison  not  to  bury  her  in  church 
nor  church-3'ard,  but  in  the  fields  only  ;  which  ac- 
(;ording]y  was  done.  All  her  means  was  an  annuit}^ 
of  forty  shillings  a  year;  what  she  lacked  more  to 
Jiveupon,  she  Inid  of  such  prisoners  as  did  employ 
her  sometimes  to  do  business  for  them.  But  this  was 
only  within  the  prison,  for  out  of  the  prison 
she  would  not  go.  so  she  sickened  and  died.  So 
there  was  an  end  to  her  sect  in  less  than  half  a 
generation.  'Tis  true  it  begins  of  late  to  be  re- 
vived again  ;  but  yet  faintly.  The  progress  it  makes 
is  not  observed  to  be  much  ;  so  that  of  all  gangrenes 
of  spirit,  with  which  the  times  are  troubled,  as  yet 
it  spreads  little  ;  and  therefore  it  is  hoped  a  short  ca- 
veat (such  as  this  is)  may  suffice  against  it,"  f 

Trask  was  brought  before  the  infamous  "Star 
Chamber "  in  1618,  and  tried  upon  the  following 
charges,  which  appear  in  the  speech  of  Bishop  An- 
drews against  him.t  The  Bishop  states  that  his  fault 
consisted  in  trying  to  make  ' '  Christian  men,  the  peo- 
ple of  God,  His  Majesty's  subjects,  little  better  than 

*See  Pagsitt,  p.  a09.  +p.  196.  This  was  written  in  1661, 
forty  years  after  the  trial  of  Trask,  and  about  tlie  time  of 
Brabourne.  t  See  Pagffitt,  p.  199. 


SABBATH      AND    SUNDAY.  328 

JewH.     This  he  doth  in  two  points,  and    wlien    he 
fakes  it  in  his  head,  he  may  do  it  in  two   and    two, 
and  two  more." 
These  are  the  specitications  : 

•'  One  is,  Christians  arc  bound  to  abstain  from  those 
meats  whieh  the  Jews  were  forbidden  in  Leviticus. 

"The  other,  tliat  tliey  are  bound  to  observe  the 
.Jewish  Sabbath." 

Bishop  Andrews  lal)ors,  in  a  len;Lrthy  speech,  to 
prove  both  these  positions  heretical.  There  is  no 
argument  of  importance  adduced  in  the  speech.  It 
does  however  contain  that  somewhat  noted  passage. 
•'  Dominkum  Serm^ti,"  etc.,  which  leaves  no  shadow 
of  doubt  that  he  was  the  author  of  it,  and  shows  also 
tjiat  he  gives  no  authority  for  it.  Tiiis  trial  resulted 
in  the  following  sentence,  which  was  executed  upon 
'I'rask  ; 

"Set  upon  the  Pillory  in  Westminster,  and  from 
rhence  to  be  whipped"^  to  the  tleet. there  to  renuun 
prisoner." 

He  afterwards  made  a  recantation  and  was  released  , 
whereupon  he  wrote  a  book  in  1620,  as  evidence;  of 
his  conversion,  entitled, 

"A  Treatise  of  Liberty  from  Judaism,  or  an  Ac- 
knowledgement of  True  Christian  Liberty.  Indited 
and  Published  by  John  Trask,  of  late  Stumbling, 
now  Happily  Running  in  the  Race  of  Christianity."* 

Thus  did  the  hand  of  persecution  suppress  the  first 
prominent  development  of  Sabbath  truth  in  England. 
The  suppression  was,  however,  neither  complete  nor 

*See  Heylyn  Hist.  Sab.,  part  2,  chap.  8.  sec.  10;  Cox  Hab- 
bath  Literature,, Vol.  1,  p.  153,  etc. 


o;J4  SAJUJATH    AN  11     SI  N- DAY. 

of  loiiii  (lunition.  Eight  years  later  Tlieophilus 
Bralxmruc.  of  Xorfolk  jMililishcd  his  first  book, 
entitled. 

"  A  Discourse  upon  the  Salilialh-day  ;  Wherein 
are  handled  these  partieidars  ensuing- :  1.  That  the 
Lord's-day  is  not  the  Sabbath-(hjy  by  Divine  institu- 
tion. 2.  An  exposition  of  the 4th  Commandment,  so 
far  forth  as  may  give  light  unto  the  ensuing  l>is- 
eourse  ;  and  particularly  hei-e  it  is  shown  at  wliat 
time  the  Sab])ath-da.y  should  begin  and  end.  for  the 
satisfaction  of  those  who  are  doiibtful  on  this  point. 
8.   That  the    Seventh-day  Sabbath  is  not  abolished. 

4.  That  the  Seventh-day  Sabbath  is  now  still  i)i  force. 

5.  The  author's  exhortation  and  reasons  tiiat  never- 
theless, there  be  no  Kent  from  our  Church  as  touch- 
ing i>ractice. — 1(383.  iSmo.  |»p.  28S."* 

Cox  says : 

•'Brabourne  is  a  much  abler  writer  llian  Trask, 
and  may  be  regarded  as  the  blunder  in  England  of 
the  sect  at  tirst  known  as  Sabbatarians.  Init  now  call- 
ingtheniselvesSeventh-day  Baptists."  .  .  .  '■Towards 
the  conclusion  of  the  treatise,  he  thus  appeals  to  the 
[)rudence  of  his  readers  :  '  And  now  let  me  propound 
unto  your  choice  these  two  days,  the  SaV)bath-day  on 
Saturday,  or  the  Lord's-day  on  Sunday  ;  and  keep 
whether  of  the  tw'ain  you  shall  in  conscience  find  the 
more  safe.  If  you  kec])  the  Loids-day.  l)ul  profane 
the  Sal)l)ath  day.  you  walk  in  great  danger  and  jKMil 
(to  say  the  least)  of  transgressing  one  of  God's  eternal 
and  inviolable  laws,  the  Fourth  Commandment :  but 
on  the  other  side,  if  you  keep  the  Sabbath-day, 
though  you  profane  the  Lord's-day.  you  are  out  of 

=^Cox  Sal).  IJt.,  Vol.  1,  p.  l.iT. 


SABIJATH    AXl)    SLXDAY.  325 

all  gunshot  and  daiiger,  for  so  you  traiisoress  no  law 
at  all,  siuco  Chnsl  nor  his  apostles  did  ever  leave 
any  law  for  it.'  "  - 

Two  years  later  Brahonrne  issued  a  more  exhaust- 
ive work,  the  first  edition  of  which  was  pu1)li8hed  in 
1680.  and  the  second  in  1682.  A  copy  of  the  first  edi- 
tion is  before  us,  wanting  only  the  title  page,  which  we 
(•(►py  fronj  Cox's  notice  of  the  second  edition.  It  is 
as  follows  : 

"  A  defense  of  the  nio.st  ancient  and  saered  Ordi- 
nance of  God's,  the  Sabbath-day.  "  ...  "  Under 
taken  against  all  Anti-Sab>)atarians.  lM)th  of  Protest- 
ant.s.  Papists.  Antinoniians  and  Anabaptists  ;  and 
by  name  and  especially  against  these  ten  Mini.sters  : 
M.  Greenwood.  M.  Hutchinson.  ^I.  Furnace,  M.  Ben- 
ton. M.  Gallard,  M.  Yates.  M.  Chappel,  M.  Stinnet. 
M.  Johnson,  and  M.  Warde."  I 

We  have  not  space,  nor  is  it  necessary  to  quote 
from  the  book  to  show  the  strength  and  soundness 
of  the  work,  and  its  necessary  influence  on  the  pub- 
lic mind.  Through  this  book  the  name  of  Brabourne 
has  become  inseparably  connected  with  the  true  Sab 
batarianisni  of  those  times.  The  character  and  in- 
fluence of  the  work  is  also  shown  in  the  fact  that 
Bishop  Francis  White,  by  order  of  the  King,  pre- 
pared an  answer  to  it.  entitled.  "  A  Treatise  on  the 
Sabbath-day,  C'ontaining  a  Defense  of  the  Orthodoxal 
Doctrine  of  the  Chui'ch  of  P^ngland,  against  Sabba- 
tarian Novelty." — London.  163").  In  his  dedication 
to  Archbishop  Laud.  White  speaks  of  Brabourne  as 
follows : 

*  lb.  p.  22(J. 
+  Sabbath  Literature.  Vol.  1,  p.  UW. 


')'2(j  SAB15ATH     AND    .Sl^NDAY. 

"A  certain  Minister  ot  Northfolk.  where  1  myself 
of  late  years  was  Bishop,  published  a  Tractate  of  the 
Sabbath;  and.  proceeding- after  the  rule  of  Presby- 
terian ])rinciples,  amoncr  which,  this  was  principal  : 
That  all  religious  observations  and  actions,  and 
among  the  rest,  the  ordaining  and  keeping  of  Holy 
days,  must  have  a  special  warrant  and  commandment 
in  Holy  Scripture,  otherwise  the  same  is  supersti- 
tious; concluded  from  thence,  by  necessary  inference, 
that  the  seventh  day  of  every  week,  to  wit,  Saturday, 
having  an  express  command  in  the  Decalogue,  by  a 
precept  simply  and  perpetually  moral,  (as  the  Sabbata- 
rians teach)  and  the  [Sunday  oi'  Lord's-day  being  not 
commanded,  either  in  the  l^aw  or  in  the  Gospel  '  the 
Saturday  must  be  the  Christians'  weekly  Sabbath, 
and  the  Sunday  ought  to  be  the  working  day.' "  .   .   . 

"Now  because  his  Treati.se  of  the  Sabbath  was 
dediciited  to  his  Royal  Majesty,  and  the  principles 
upon  which  he  grounded  all  his  arguments,  (being 
commonly  preached,  printed  and  believed,  through- 
out the  kingdom.)  might  have  poisoned  and  infected 
many  people,  either  with  this  Sabbatarian  erroi-,  or 
Avith  some  other  of  like  quality  ;  it  was  the  King,  our 
gracious  Master,  his  will  and  pleasure,  that  a  treatise 
should  Ixj  set  forth  to  prevent  further  mi.schief ,  and  to 
settle  his  good  subjects  (who  have  long  time  been 
distracted  about  Salibatarian  questions)  in  the  old 
and  good  way  of  the  ancient  and  Orthodoxal  Catholic 
Church.""^ 

Bishop  White  was  well  qualified  to  write  and 
produced  a  work  which,  excej^t  the  "  History  of  the 
Sabbath  "  by  Peter  Heylyn,  was  stronger  than  any 
of  the  books  put  forth  by  the  chur(iimen  of  those 
times.  Bra  bourne  was  summoned  before  the  "  High 
Commission,  whose  well-tempered  severity  herein  so 

*  Jntroduction,  near  the  close. 


SABBATH    AND     SUNDAY.  327 

prevailed  iijion  him  that,  subniiltiiiir  himself  to  a  pri- 
vate confereiiee,  and  perceiving  the  imsoundness  of 
his  principles,  he  became  a  convert,  conforming  him- 
self quietly  to  the  Church  of  England."  '^ 

This  ••  quiet  conformity  to  the  Church  of  England," 
on  the  part  of  Brabourne  was  evidently  only  a  tem- 
porary wavering,  for  he  'wrote  afterwards,  and  a 
composition  of  his  against  Cawdrey,  which  came  out 
in  1654,  gives  no  evidence  of  the  sincerity  of  his  re- 
traction."! 

It  is  evident  that  he  was  for  the  moment  overborne, 
rather  than  permanently  changed,  since  his  'pre- 
face "  contained  a  candid  and  calm  discussion  of  the 
causes  which  impelled  him  to  write  and  of  the  con- 
sequences which  might  follow.  On  this  very  point 
he  says : 

"The  soundness  and  chfainess  of  this  my  cause, 
givetli  me  good  hope  that  God  will  enlighten  them 
(the  magistrates)  with  it,  and  so  incline  their  hearts 
unto  mercy.  But  if  not.  since  I  verily  believe  and 
know  it  to  be  a  truth,  and  my  duty  not  to  smother 
it,  and  sufifer  it  to  die  with  me,  I  have  adventured  to 
publish  it  and  defend  it,  saying  with  Queen  Esther. 
•  If  I  perish,  I  perish  ;'  and'  with  the  Apostle  Paul  ; 
'  neither  is  my  life  dear  unto  me,  so  that  I  may  fulfill 
my  course  with  jov.'  What  a  corrosive  wotdd  it 
prove  to  my  conscience,  on  my  death-bed.  to  call  to 
mind  how  I  knew  these  thing  full  well,  hut  would 
not  reveal  them.  How  could  I  say  with  St.  Paul, 
that  I  had  revealed  the  whole  counsel  of  God,  had 
kept    nothing   back   ^^-hich   was   profitable  V     What 

*  See  Fuller's  Church  History,  Book  10,  century  XVII,  sec- 
tion 32 :  also,  Brook's  Lives  of  Puritans,  Vol.  2,  p.  362.  and 
White,  p.  305. 

^  He.ssey  Lectures  on  Sunday,  pp.   373—4.  note  479 


328  SABBATH    AND   SUNDAY. 

hope  could  r  then  conceive  that  God  wouhl  open  his 
gate  of  mercy  to  rae.  wlio,  whih^  I  lived,  would  not 
open  my  mouth  for  hinj?  "* 

This  •  Introduction, ■■  comprising-  an  address  to 
the  king,  to  the  prelates,  and  to  the  rearler.  is  far 
from  being  the  language  of  a  mere  enthusiast.  If  his 
strength  faileci  and  his  bewildered  judgment  wavered 
for  a  moment  under  the  i)ressure  which  was  broiight 
to  l)ear  upon  him,  it  is  not  wonderful,  nor  more  than 
many  good  and  true  men  have  done  under  similar 
circumstances.  There  is  still  further  evidence  that 
lie  "soon  relapsed  into  his  former  errors,"  for  Mr. 
Cox  f  notices  another  book  from  his  pen  in  reply  to 
two  hooks  against  the  8abbath,  one  by  Ives  and  the 
other  l)y  Warner.  This  last  work  by  Bra  bourne  was 
an  8mo  book,  published,  at  London,  in  1659.  Itthus 
appears  that  he  pul)lished  four  books  in  favor  of  the 
Sabbath. 

Next  upon  the  list  stands  the  name  of  James  Ock- 
ford,  a  follower  of  Brabourne,  who  issued  a  work  in 
1642.  entitled  "The  Doctrine  of  the  Fourth  Com 
mandment."  Something  concerning  its  character  and 
history  may  be  gleaned  from  a  work  in  favor  of 
of  Siuida}-  by  Cawdrey  and  Palmer,  published  in 
165'J.  In  part  third,  section  thirty-three  is  found 
the  following : 

•'But  before  we  conclude  this  chapter,  we  shall 
take  a  brief  survey  of  what  a  later  Sabbatarian  hath 
w  ritten,  being,  it  seems,  unsatisfied  (as  w  ell  he  might) 

*  This  "  Introduction  "  is  not  pa^ed.  This  passage  is  from 
his  address  to  tlie  reader. 

tSabbath  Literature,  Vol.  2.  p.  G. 


SAP.l'.ATH    AND    SUNDAY.  o29 

with  all  that  hath  been  said  by  tin-  Ijishop,*  and 
others  in  his  way,  in  answer  to  the  Sabbatarian  argn- 
ment*i.  One  Jtiines  Ockford  (as  we  hinted  above) 
hath  revived  the  (|uarrel,  and  makes  use  f>f  his 
adversaries'  weap(Mis  to  beat  themselves  withal. 
There  hath  been  a  sharp  confutation  of  his  l>o()k  by 
tire,  it  bein<>-  commanded  to  l)e  burnt,  as  perhaps  il 
well  deserved.  Vet  lestheshould  ccmiplain  of  harsh 
dealin;j;-,  no  answer  l)eini>-  uiven  him,  for  his  satisfac- 
tion, thoutih  all  his  arguments  are  alreadv  confuted 
in  this  present  discourse,  we  shall  give  him  a  brief 
account  of  our  judgment  concerning  his  whole  book — 
we  think  to  a  full  satisfaction."  f 

Cawdrey  and  Palmer  were  members  of  the  "As- 
sembly of  Divines,"  and  wrote  from  the  Puritan 
stand  point.  Their  review  of  Ockford's  book,  ami 
tlie  l)ook  itself  show  that  his  argunuMits  weie  well 
sustained.  About  ten  years  later,  Edward  Fisher 
publi.'^hed   a    book  in  favor  of  the  Sabbath,  entitled 

•  A    Christian    Caveat."    etc.      This    work    passed 
through  at  least  live  editions.       Cox  speaks  of  it  as 

"A   pithy,  clever  treatise  directed  against  the  opin 

ions  held  l)y  the  Puritans,  of  whom  he  affirms  that.. 

because  they  are  neither  able  to  produce  direct  Scrij) 

ture  nor  solid  reason  for  what  they  say,  they  labor  to 

support   their  conceits    by    fallacies,    falsities,    and 

wresting  of  God's   Holy   Word,  as  iipon  scanning, 

their  proofs  will  be  manifest  to  the  meanest  capacity. "  t 

The  name  of  Edward  Stennet  stands  next  upon  the 

list ;  his  first  work  in  favor  of  the  Sabbath    was  en 

titled, 

*  Referring  to  Bishop  White's  answer  to  Bra  bourne. 

+  p.  446. 

+  Sabbatli  Literature.  Vol.  1,  p.  '237. 


;>3(»  SA1U5ATH     ANDSl^SDAY. 

"  THE  110 YAJ.  LAW  CONTENDED  FOR,  or, 
Some  brief  Grounds  serving  to  prove  that  the  Ten 
Commandments  are  yet  in  full  force,  and  shall  8o  re- 
main till  Heaven  and  Earlli  pass  awav,"  etc. 

By  a  Lover  of  Peace  with  Truth,  lulward  Stennel. 
■They   that   forsake  the   Law   praise   the    wicked. 

but  such    as   keep  the  Law  contend  with    tliem.'" 

Prov.  2H  :  4. 
"  Let   us  hear  the  conclusion  of  the  whole   matter. 

Fear  God  and  keep  His  Commandments,  for  this  is 

the  whole  duty  of  man."     Ecc.  12  :  13. 
"The  Sabbath  was  made  for  man  and  not  nuin  for 

the  Sabbath  ;  therefore  the  Sou  of  man  is  Lord  even 

of  the  Sabbath."     Mark  2  :  27,  28. 
■ '  Then  shall  I  not  V)e  ashamed,  when  I  have  respect 

to  all  Thv  Commandm(Mits."     Ps.  119  :  6. 

London. '1658. 

This  work  has  been  ivi)ublished  by  tlie  American 
Sabl)ath  Tract  Society,  from  the  i)reface  to  whose 
edition  we  extract  tlie  following-  notice  concerning 
the  authoi- . 

"  The  friends  of  the  Sabbath  will  doubtless  receive 
this  little  volume  as  a  valuable  i-elic  of  the  past — as  a 
word  fi'om  one  of  the  tiied  and  faithlul  friends  of 
the  truth,  one  who  not  only  loved  the  day  of  Gods 
Ave^kly  rest,  ))ut  greatly  delighted  in  the  promise  of 
a  future  and  glorious  Sabbatliism  with  the  i)eoi)le  of 
God.  Edward  Stennel.  the  authoi-,  was  the  first  of 
a  series  of  Sabbatarian  ministers  of  that  name,  who 
for  four  generations  continued  to  be  among  the  fore- 
most of  the  Dissenters  in  England,  and  whose  ])raise 
is  still  in  all  the  churches.  He  was  an  able  and  de- 
voted minister,  but  dissenting  from  the  Established 
Church.  h(^  w;is  deprived  of  the  means  of  suppoi"l  ; 
and,  his  family  being  large,  he  applied  himself  to 
the  study  of  medicine,  by  the  practice  of  whicli  he 
was  enabled  to  dvc  his  sous  a  liberal  education.      He 


SAHHAT]i     AND    SUNDAY.  331 

sullVred  nincli  oi  tlic  persecution  wliich  the  Dissent- 
ers were  exj^osed  to  at  that  time,  and  more  especially 
for  his  faithful  adhei-ence  to  the  cause  of  the  Sab- 
bath. For  this  truth,  he  experienced  tribidation.  not 
only  from  nios<'  in  jiower,  by  whom  he  was  kept  a 
long  time  in  ])rison.  but  also  much  distress  from  un- 
friendly dissenting  brethren,  who  strove  to  destroy 
his  influence,  and  ruin  his  cause  lie  wrote  several 
ti-eatises  upon  the  cause  of  tin;  Sabbath  besides  this, 
but  they  an;  very  rare,  and  perhajis  cannot  be  found 
in  a  perfect  state  of  jtreservation.  It  would  be  w(;ll. 
no  doubt,  to  revive  all  oi  them.  and.  if  practicable. 
repul)lish  them  in  the  same  form  as  this,  that  the.y 
might  be  bound  together,  and  placed  as  they  desi'iv'e 
to  be,  in  every  Sabbat h-kee])er's  library.  They  all 
breathe  the  genuiin^  sj)irit  of  Christianity,  and  in  their 
day  were  greatly  cojiducive  to  the  i)rosp<'rity  of  tlie 
Sabbath-keeping  churches." 

Another  work  from  his  pen,  entitled  "The  Seventh 
day  is  th<'  Sabbath  of  the  I^ord,"  and  published  in 
1664,  is  before  »is.  It  is  an  able  reply  to  a  ])ook  by 
one  Mr.  l{ussel.  entitled  "  No  Sevenlh-day  Sabbath 
Recommended  by  .I<^sus  dirist." 

Next  comes  a  book  by  William  Sellers,  published 
in  1671,  the  title  of  which  runs  as  follows  : 

"An  examination  of  the  late  book  ])ul)lished  by 
Doctor  Owen,  (toucerning  a  Sacred  Day  of  H^jst. 
Many  Truths  tlun^ein,  as  to  the  morality  of  a  Chrife- 
tian  Sabbath,  as.sented  to.  With  a  Brief  In(]uiry  into 
his  l^e.asons  for  the  Changes  of  it  from  the  Seventh 
day  to  the  first,  by  way  of  denial.  As  also  the  con- 
sent (;f  Doctor  ileylyn  and  others,  touching  the  time 
and  manner  of  th(!  change.  With  an  Inquiry  into 
the  nature  of  the  assertions  about  the  first  and  second 
covenants.'     4to.  pp.  56. 

Next  in  order   is  the   name   o1   an    author    whose 


332  8ABBATH    AND   SUNDAY. 

works  vveie  proinint'iitly  associated  with  the  history 
of  the  Seventh-day  Baptists  in  England  during  the 
hist  half  of  tlie  seventeentli  century,  Francis  Bamp- 
field.  He  Avrote  at  least  two  works  upon  the  Sab- 
bath, besides  others  of  a  scientific  and  literary  char- 
acter.    The  first  work  on  the  Sabbath  is  entitled, 

•The  Judgment  of  Mr.  Francis  Bampfield,  late 
Minister  of  Sherbourne  in  Dorsetshin',  for  the  Ob- 
servation of  the  Jewish  or  Seventh-day  Sabbath  : 
with  his  Reasons  and  Scripture  for  the  same.  Sent 
in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Ben  of  Dorchestei'.  Together  with 
Mr.  Ben's  sober  Answer  to  the  Same,  and  a  Vindica- 
tion of  the  Christian  Sabbath  against  the  Jewish,  Pub- 
lished for  the  satisfaction  of  divers  friends  in  the 
West  of  England.     London,  1673.  12mo,  pp  86. 

His  Second  work  bears  tlie  following  title  : 

"  'Safifiarinif  'II/i^fMi  'Hjiiffja  'If pa,  Septinia 
Dies  Desiderabilis.  Sabbatum  Jehova*.  The  Seventh- 
day  Sabbath  the  desirable  day,  the  closing,  complet- 
ing day  of  that  first  created  week,  which  was,  is. 
and  will  be,  the  just  measure  of  all  succeeding  weeks 
in  their  successive  courses,  both  for  working  in  the 
six  foregoing  days,  and  for  rest  in  the  vSeventh. 
which  is  the  last  day,  by  an  unchangeable  law  of  well 
established  order,  ])oth  in  the  revealed  Word  and  in 
created  Nature.*'— 1677,  Fol,,  pp.  149. 

The  character  of  this  man  and  his  sufferings  in  be- 
half of  the  truth,  are  shown  in  the  work  of  an  Eng- 
lish author  of  later  time,  Edmimd  Oalamy.  who  gives 
the  following  account  of  him  : 

'■  He  was  descended  from  an  ancient  and  honora- 
l>le  family  in  Devonshire,  and  being  designed  for  the 
ministry  from  his  birth,  was  educated  accordingly  ; 
his  own  inclination  concurring  with  the  design  of 
Ids   pious   parents.      When    he   left   the    univei-sity 


SABBATH     AND    SUNDAY.  333 

(wlieiv  he  continued  seven  or  eiirlit  years)  he  was  or- 
dained a  Deacon  of  the  Church  oi' England  by  Bp 
Hall ;  aftenvards  Presbyter  by  Bp.  Skinner,  and  was 
soon  after  preferred  to  a  living  in  Dorsetshire,  of  about 
one  hundred  pounds  per  annum,  where  he  took  great 
pains  to  instruct  his  people,  and  promote  true  re- 
ligion among  them.  Having  an  annuity  of  eighty 
l)Ounds  a  year  sf^ttled  upon  him  for  Hfe.  he  spent  all 
the  income  (^f  his  place  in  acts  of  charity  among  his 
parishioners,  in  giving  them  Bibles  and  other  good 
books,  setting  the  poor  to  work,  and  relieving  the 
necessities  of  those  that  were  disal)led  :  not  suiiering 
a  beggar,  knowingly,  to  be  in  his  parish.  While  he 
was  here,  he  l)egan  to  see  that  in  many  ways  the 
Church  of  England  neinled  ref()rmati(»n,  in  regard  to 
doctrine,  wor.ship  and  discii)line  :  and  therefore,  as 
Itecame  a  faithful  minister,  he  heartily  stM  about  it, 
making  the  laws  of  Christ  his  only  rule.  But  herein 
he  met  great  opi)osition  and  tro\ible."  - 

When  the  Act  of  Uniformity  was  ])iiss('(l.  in  KitVJ. 
being  unal)le  to  conform  to  its  rcfpiirements.  Mr. 
]Janiptield  gave  up  his  place,  and  though  he  was 
strictly  loyal  in  all  the  |)olitical  troubles  of  those 
times,  lu'  m'.vertheless  suffered  much  on  account  of 
his  non-conformity.  "Soon  after  his  ejectment  he 
was  impri.soned  for  worshiping  God  in  his  own 
family,"  Not  a  Httle  inju.stice  and  cruelty  was  shown 
Inm  in  these  minor  im})risomnents.  But  he  was 
doometl  to  much  greater  trials  and  sufferings,  for  w(; 
learn  from  Calamy  that. 

"Mr.  Bamptield  afterward  su If ered  eight  years  im- 
prisonment in  Doichester  jail,  which  he  bore  witli 
great    courage    and    j)atience,   being  tilled    with    the 

*  Non-Coiifontusts  Memorial.  Vol.  'i.  p.  ]4!».  jseci. 


334  SABBATH    AND    SLNDAY. 

romfort  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  He  also  preached  in 
the  prison,  almost  every  day,  and  gathered  a  church 
there.  Upon  his  discharge  in  1675,  he  went  about 
preaching  the  Gospel  in  several  counties.  But  he 
was  soon  taken  up  again  for  it  in  Wiltshire,  and  im- 
prisoned at  Salisbury  ;  where,  on  account  of  a  dne, 
he  continued  eighteen  weeks.  During  this  time  he 
wrote  a  letter  which  was  printed,  giving  an  account 
of  his  imprisonment,  and  the  joy  he  had  in  his  suf- 
ferings for  Christ.  Upon  his  release  he  came  to 
London,  w^here  he  preached  privately  several  years 
with  great  success,  and  gathered  a  people ;  who,  be- 
ing baptized  by  immersion  (Mr.  Bampfield  having 
become  a  Baptist),  formed  themselves  into  a  church, 
and  met  at  Pinner's  Hall,  which,  being  so  public, 
soon  exposed  them  to  the  rage  of  their  persecutors. " 
"On  Feb.  17,  1682,  a  constable  and  several  men 
with  halberts,  rushed  into  the  assembly  when  Mr. 
Bampfield  was  in  the  pulpit.  The  constable  ordered 
him  in  the  king's  name  to  come  down.  He  answered 
that  he  was  discharging  his  office  in  the  name  of  the 
King  of  kings.  The  constable  telling  him  he  had  a 
warrant  from  the  Lord  Mayor,  Mr,  Bampfield  re- 
plied: '  I  have  a  warrant  from  Christ,  who  is  Lord 
Maximiis,  to  go  on,"  and  so  proceeded  in  his  dis- 
course. The  constable  then  bid  one  of  the  oflicers 
pull  him  down;  when  he  repeated  his  text;  Isa.  63d, 
•  The  day  of  vengeance  is  in  his  heart,  and  the  year 
of  his  redeemed  ones  is  come  ; '  adding,  '  He  will  pull 
down  his  enemies.'  They  then  seized  him,  and  took 
him  with  six  others,  before  the  Lord  Mayor,  who 
fined  several  of  them  £10,  and  bid  Mr.  Bampfield 
begone.  In  the  afternoon  they  assembled  at  the 
same  place  again,  where  they  met  with  a  fresh  dis- 
turbance ;  and  an  officer,  though  not  without  trembl- 
ing, took  Mr  Bampfield  and  led  him  into  the  street ; 
but  the  constable  having  no  warrant,  they  let  him 
go,  so  he  went  with  a  great  company,  to  his  own 
house,  and  there  finished  the  service.' 


SABBATH    AND    SL'NDAY.  835 

"On  tlie  24th  of  the  same  month,  he  met  his  con- 
gregation again  at  Pinner's  Hall,  and  was  again 
pulled  out  of  the  pulpit,  and  led  through  the  streets 
with  his  Bible  in  his  hand,  and  great  multitudes  after 
him  ;  some  reproaching  him.  and  others  speaking  in 
his  favor ;  one  of  whom  said,  •  See  how  he  walks 
with  his  Bible  in  his  hand,  like  one  of  the  old  martyrs. " 
Being  brought  to  the  sessions  where  the  Lord  Mayor 
attended,  he  and  three  more  were  sent  to  prison 
The  next  day  they  were  brought  to  the  bar,  and 
being  examined  were  remitted  to  Newgate.  On 
March  17.  1683.  he  and  some  others,  who  w^ere  com- 
mitted for  not  taking  the  oaths  of  allegiance  and 
supremacy,  were  brought  to  the  Old  Bailey,  indicted, 
tried,  and  by  the  jury  (directed  by  the  Judge)  brought 
m  guilty.  On  3Iarch  28.  being  brought  again  to  the  ses 
^sions  to  receive  their  sentence,  the  recorder,  after  odi- 
ously aggravating  their  offence. and  reflecting  on  scrup- 
ulous consciences,  read  their  .sentence,  which  was  : 
•  That  they  were  out  of  the  protection  of  the  King's 
Majesty  :  that  all  their  goods  and  chattels  were  for- 
feited, and  they  were  to  remain  in  jail  during  their 
lives,  or  during  the  King's  pleasure."  Upon  this  Mr. 
Bamptield  would  have  spoken,  but  there  was  a  great 
cry — '  Away  with  them,  we  will  not  hear  them,  etc.," 
and  so  they  were  thrust  away;  when  Mr.  Bampfield 
said  •  The  righteous  Lord  loveth  righteousness  ;  the 
Lord  be  judge  in  this  case.'  They  were  then  re- 
turned to  Newgate,  where  Mr.  Bamptield  (who  was 
of  a  tender  constitution)  soon  after  died  in  conse- 
quence of  the  hard.ships  he  suffered,  much  lamented 
by  his  fellow  prisoners,  as  well  as  by  his  friends  in 
general.  Notwithstanding  his  peculiar  sentiments, 
all  who  knew  him  acknowledged  that  he  was  a  man 
of  serious  piety,  and  deserved  a  different  treatment 
from  what  he  met  with  from  an  unkind  world.  He 
was  one  of  the  most  celebrated  preachers  in  the  West 
of  England,  and  extremely  admired  by  his  hearers. 


:)36  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

till  he  fell  into  \hv  Sabbatarian  notion,  of  which  he 
was  a  zealous  asserter."  * 

Thus  even  the  enemies  of  The  !Sal)bath  bear  liighesl 
t(>stimony  in  favor  of  this  noble  martyr  for  tlie 
truth. 

In  1692,  there  ai)peare(l  a  work  from  Thomas 
Hampfield.  a  brother  of  the  man  mentioned  above. 
Its  title  runs  as  follows  : 

•*An  enquiry  whether  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  made 
the  world,  and  l)e  Jehovah,  and  .<»,ave  the  Moral  law. 
and  whether  the  Fourth  Commandment  be  repealed 
or  not." 

This  work  was  answered  by  John  Wallis.  D.  1)., 
Professor  of  Geometry  in  the  University  of  Oxford, 
which  elicited  a  second  book  in  re^dy  by  Mi-.  IJamj)- 
tield,  entitled, 

"A  Replv  to  Dr.  Wallis,  his  Discourse  concerning:; 
the  Christian  Sabbath."— London,  1688. 

An  examination  of  these  works  shows  that  he  was 
a  writer  of  no  mean  ability.  He  w  as  a  Barrister, 
and  being  less  connected  with  the  church  and  theo- 
logi(;al  matters  than  his  brother,  does  not  appear  as 
promiuj-ntly  in  histoiy.  He  is  however  noticed  by 
both  Calamy  and  Cox.  Wallis  wi'ote  a  second  book 
in  reply  to  Thos.  Bampfield's  second  work.  Avhich 
was  i)»d)lished  in  1694. 

Passing  into  the  next  centuiy  anothei"  book   comes 

before    the    public  in   1724,  from   the  pen  of  George 

Carlow,  entitled,  "Truth  defended,  or  Observations 

on  Mr.   WaixVs  expository  discourses  fi-om  the  8th, 

9th,  lOth.and  11th  verses  of  the  20th  chapter  of  Exo- 

*p.  151,  Vol.  :^(l.  Found  also  in  Vol.  1.  p.  4«8,  se<|.,  Loudon 
edition,  177o. 


SAIJI'.ATH     AX])     SUNDAY.  Sol 

dus,  concerniiiL!,-  the  Sabbath.'  This  work  was  re- 
printed in  America,  at  Stonington,  Conn.,  in  1802, 
and  auaiu  by  the  American  Sa1)batli  Tract  Society, 
in  New  York.  The  followinii-  In'storic  notice  of  tlie 
author  is  taken  tVom  the  American  edition  of  1847. 

Of  the  personal  history  of  George  Carlow,  but 
little  is  known.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Sabbath- 
keeping  church  which  once  flourish(;d  at  AVood- 
])ridge.  Suffolk,  Eng.  Having  visited  London,  ]>rob- 
ably  for  purposes  connected  with  the  i)ublication  of 
hisl)ook,  he  was  rec<mimended  to  the  fellowship  of 
the  church  of  ^Nlill  Yard,  in  Goodman's  Fields. 
Hence  his  name  ai)pears  upon  the  records  of  that 
church  as  a  tran.sient  meml)er.  He  was  evidently  a 
man  of  plain  parts,  not  schooled  in  the  rides  of  logic, 
but  learned  in  the  Scriptures.  Fi'om  that  fountain 
of  true  wisdom,  the  Word  of  God.  he  ha<l  imbil»ed  a 
spirit  which  gives  a  pungency  and  lieari-sc.irching 
character  to  his  writings  not  often  found  in  books  of 
controversy.  The  argumentative  part  of  the  subject 
is  not  perhaps  so  well  managed  in  this  book  as  in 
some  more  modern  publications.  But  as  the  authoi' 
was  well  read  in  the  controversies  concerning  the 
Sabbath,  the  historical  information  which  he  pre- 
sents is  very  valual)le.  The  whole  work  is  chaiacter- 
ized  by  a  sj)irit  of  evangelical  piety  and  earnestness 
which  muM4  make  its  influence  powerful  and  salu- 
tary wherever  read.  We  commend  it  to  the  diligent 
jK'rusal  of  every  Christian. 

A  pastor  of  the  'Mill  Yard  Seventh-day  Baptist 
Church"  in  London.  Bobert  Cornthwaite  published 
{22) 


338  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

five  books  upon  the  Sal)l)ath  question.  The  first 
wjis  published  about  1738,  and  the  last  in  1740. 
These  are  their  titles  in  order : 

1.  "Reflections  on  Dr.  Wright's  Treatise  on  the 
Religious  observation  of  the  Lord's-day,  according  to 
the  express  w-^ords  of  the  Fourth  Commandment, 
showing  the  inconclusiveuess  of  the  Doctor's  reason- 
ing on  that  subject,  and  the  impossibility  of  grounding 
the  First-day  Sabbath  on  the  Fourth  Commandment, 
(n-  any  other  text  of  Scripture  produced  by  him  for 
that  purpose  " 

2.  "The  Seventh-day  of  the  week  the  Christian 
Sabbath."    London,  1735. 

3.  "  The  Seventh-day  Sabbath  farther  vindicated, 
or  a  Defense  of  some  Reflections  on  Dr.  Wright's 
Treatise  on  the  Religious  observation  of  the  Lord's- 
day,  according  to  the  express  words  of  the  Fourth 
Commandment  ;  as,  also,  of  the  Seventh-day  of  the 
week,  the  Christian  Sabbath,  against  the  exceptions 
of  Mr.  Caleb  Flemming."*    London.  1736. 

4.  "A  Second  Defense  of  some  Reflections  on  Dr. 
Wright's  Treatise  on  the  Religious  observation  of  the 
Lord's-day,  etc.,  against  the  exceptions  of  Mr.  Caleb 
Flemming,  in  wliich  his  explication  of  Gen.  2  :  2.  3,  is 
considered,  and  shown  to  be  as  inconsistent  tis  the 
Doctor's  Explication  of  the  Fourth  Commandment  ; 
and  the  Seventh-day  Sabbath  is  proved  to  oblige  all 
Christians  on  Protestant  principles."  London,  about 
1737. 

5.  "  An  Essay  on  the  Sabbath,  or  a  modest  attempt 
towards  a  plain.  Scriptural  resolution  of  the  following- 
questions  .  1 .  Whether  the  Seventh-day  Sabbath  was 
given  to  Adam  in  Paradise.  2.  Whether  the  same 
iiow  obliges  Christians,  occasioned  by  the  following 

*  An  Unitarian  minister  whose  work  was  published  the 
same  year. 


6ABBATH    AND    SUXDAY.  ^>39 

pieces  lately  wrote  upon  the  subject,  viz  :  Mr.  Hal- 
lett's  Discourse  on  the  Lord's-day :  Mr.  Jephson's  Dis- 
course coucerning  the  Religious  Observation  of  the 
Lord's-day.  etc.  Mr.  Chubb's  Dissertation  coucerning 
tlie  Time  of  Keeping  a  Sabbath.  ^Ir.  Killing-worth's 
Appendix  to  his  Supplement  to  the  sermons  preached 
at  Salter's  Hall,  against  Popery;  ]N[r.  Dobels  Seventh- 
day  Sabbath  not  obhgatory  on  Christians,  and  his  Ap- 
pendix; and  Dr. Watts'  Holiness  of  Times,  Places  and 
People-  In  which  everything  judged  material,  of- 
fered by  any  of  these  gentlemen  on  the  negative  side 
of  either  of  the  above  mentioned  Cfuestions,  is  impar- 
tially considered."     London.  1740. 

Robert  Cox*  (luotes  largely  from  this  work,  and 
says  : 

•  Mr.  Coruthwaite  is  one  of  the  ablest  defenders  of 
the  positions  taken  up  by  Seventh-day  Baptists. 

It  will  be  seen  by  the  titles  that  Mr.  Cornthwaite's 
l)ooks  were  mostly  controversial.  They  were  widely 
circulated,  and  the  replies  to  them  were  written  by 
some  of  the  most  ennnent  men  of  tliose  times.  No- 
tices of  other  Sabbatarian  authors  will  be  found  in 
the  next  chapter,  in  connection  with  the  history  of 
churches. 

ORCiANIZATlON  OF  SEVENTH-DAY  BAPTIST  CnUUCIIKS 
IN    ENGLAND. 

The  Seventh-day  Baptists  were  the  most  rad- 
ical reformers,  and  the  most  fearless  dissenters 
that  took  part  in  the  English  Reformation.  Every 
intluenc*'  opposed  the  organization  of  such  men  into 
churches  ;  even  their  public  meetings  were  prohibited 
at  times  by  law .     Hence  no  churches  w^ere  regularh' 

*  Sabbath  Literature,  Vol.  2.  p.  198. 


;iiO  SABBATH     AND     SUNDAY. 

organized  until  about  IHoO.  IJctwci'u  that  time  and 
the  close  of  the  century,  at  least  eleven  churches 
were  organized,  and  there  Avere  many  unorganized 
Sabbatli-keepers  scattered  through  the  kingdom. 
These  churches  were  located  at  Uraintree,  in  Essex, 
Chersey,  Norweston,  Salislmry.  in  Wiltshire,  Sher- 
bourue,  in  Buckinhamshiie,  Tewksbury,  oi'  Nattou, 
in  Gloucestershire,  Wallingford,  JJerkshire,  Wood 
))ridge,  in  Sutt'olk  :  and  three  in  London,  viz  :  the  Mill 
Yard  Chinch,  the  Cripplegate  Church,  and  tlie  Pin 
ner's  Hall  Church.  The  liistory  of  these  "churches 
may  be  fotmd  in  detail  in  the  Seventh-day  Baptist  Man- 
ual by  Rev.  Geo.  B.  T  tter  (Westerly,  R.  I.)  pup- 
lished  in  1858:  and  in  the  bound  volumes  of  the 
Sabbath  ^Memorial,  pul)lished  by  the  present  pastor 
of  the  Mill  Yard  Church.  Rev.  Wm.  M.  Jones.  The 
martyrdom  of  John  James  has  also  latel}'  apjieared 
from  the  pen  of  Mi-.  Jon<'s.  We  have  space  only  to 
say  that  from  the  English  churches  the  Seventh-day 
Baptists  were  planted  in  America,  as  will  be  seen  in 
a  succeeding  chapter.  These  European  Sabbath- 
keepers,  comiecting  with  their  Waldensian  brethren, 
(see  Chapter  18),  keep  the  links  unbroken  between 
the  Seventh-day  Baptists  of  the  United  States,  and 
the  Apostolic  Churcli,  as  it  was  before  the  Sunday 
usurpations,  thiough  the  help  of  the  civil  law,  and 
Pagan  cult,  made  war  on  God's  llolv  Dav. 


CHAPTEK   XXV. 
The  Sunday  in  ^^merica — Col- 
onial   Period. 

About  the  bouinning  of  the  seventeenth  eentiiiy. 
certain  dissenters  fled  from  England  to  Holland. 
Failing"  to  succeed  in  propagating  their  views  among 
the  Hollanders,  and  finding  their  own  purity  on  the 
decline,  they  determined  to  seek  a  home  in  the  New 
World.  They  reached  America  in  1620,  and  settled 
at  Xew  Plymouth.  In  1629  a  large  colony  from 
England  joined  them.  Thus  came  the  birth  of  New 
England,  and  the  establishment  of  Puritanism  in 
America.  I'he  (•i\'il  government  which  these  men 
adopted  was  the  direct  outgrowth  of  their  religion . 
The  •  Theocracy"  of  the  Hebrews  under  Moses  fur- 
nished the  much  approved  model  after  which  it  was 
patterned.  The  result  was  more  than  a  union  of  Church 
and  State  ;  it  was,  rather,  a  "state"  in  the  Church. 
Hence,  in  tlie  civil  laws  of  those  times  we  find  the 
practfcal  expression  of  the  orthodo.x  theology  ;  and 
in  the  execution  of  those  Uiws,  an  index  to  the  vitality 
and  power  of  the  prevailing  religion.  It  is,  therefore, 
suited  to  the  purposes  of  this  chapter  to  collect  the 
laws  of  .the  early  colonists  concerning  Sunday,  and, 
as  far  as  mav  be  necessai-v.  to  sketch  the  history  of 


34'^  SABBATH    AND  SUXDAY. 

tlu'ir  execution.  Tliis  will  be  done  in  the  following; 
( »r(ler  : 

1st.  The  law.s  of  the  Plymouth  Colony  up  to  the 
time  of  its  union  with  Massachusetts  ;  then  the  laws 
of  Massachusetts  as  a  colcMiy,  a  ])rovince,  and  a 
state. 

2d.  The  laws  of  the  New  Haven  and  Connecticut 
colonies  in  a  similar  order. 

There  were  no  direct  statute  laws  concerning  the 
observance  of  Sunday  durinsi'  the  earlier  years  of  the 
Ph^mouth  colony.  There  was,  however,  a  riirid 
"  Common  Law/'  founded  on  the  la^ys  of  the  Jewish 
Theocracy.  In  1650,  June  10th,  the  i>eneral  court 
enacted  the  following" : 

•  Further  l)e  it  enacted,  that  whosoever  shall  pro- 
fane the  Lord's-day  by  doinii-  any  servile  work,  or 
any  siich  like  abuse,  shall  foi-feit  for  every  such  de- 
fault ten  shillin.u's,  or  be  whijiptHl."' 

In  1651,  June  6th  : 

"  It  is  enacted  by  the  comt  that  whatsoever  per- 
son or  persons  shall  neglect  the  frequent ing  the  pul)- 
li(r  woi-ship  of  God  that  is  according  to  God,  in  the 
])laces  where  they  live,  or  do  assemble  tliemselves 
upon  any  pretense  whatsoever,  contraiy  to  (xod  and 
the  allow^ance  of  the  govei'nment,  tending  to  the 
subversion  of  religion  and  churches,  or  i)alpable 
profanation  of  God's  holy  ordinances,  being  duly 
convicted,  viz.,  every  one  that  is  a  master  or  dame  of 
a  family,  or  any  other  ju'ison  at  their  own  disposing. 
to  i>ay  ten  shillings  for  every  such  default."  * 

It  is  also 

» 

*  JMymouth  Colony  Records.  \ol.  XI.  p.  ",,  58. 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  343 

"Enacted  by  tlie  Court,  tlmt  if  any  in  any  lazy, 
slothful  or  profane  way  doth  neglect  to  come  to  the 
public  worship  (^f  God,  they  shall  forfeit  for  every 
such  default  ten  shillinirs,  or  be  whipped."  * 

In  1658,  we  have  the  following  : 

"Whereas,  complaint  is  made  of  great  abuses  in 
sundry  places  in  this  government  of  profaning  the 
Lord's-day  by  travelers,  both  liorse  and  foot,  by 
bearing  of  burdens,  carrying  of  packs,  etc. ,  upon  the 
Lord's  day,  to  the  great  offense  of  the  godly,  well- 
affected  amongst  us:  It  is  therefore  enacted  by  the 
court,  and  the'authority  thereof,  that  if  any  j^erson 
or  persons  shall  be  found  transgressing  in  any  of  the 
precints  of  any  township  within  this  government,  he 
or  they  sball  be  forthwith  apprehended  by  the  con- 
stable of  such  town,  and  fined  twenty  shillings  to  the 
colony's  use,  or  else  set  in  the  stocks  four  hours,  ex- 
cept they  can  give  a  sufficient  reason  for  their  so  do- 
ing ;  imd  they  that  transgress  in  any  of  the  above 
said  particulars,  shall  only  be  apprehended  on  the 
Lord's-day  ;  and  on  the  second  day  following  shall 
either  pa}'  their  tine,  or  sit  in  the  stocks  as  afore- 
said, "f 

The  general  laws  concerning  attendance  on  public 
worship  passed  in  1651,  were  repealed  in  1659.  and 
the  following  enacted,  and  repeated  in  1661  : 

"It  is  enacted  by  the  court,  that  whatsoever  per- 
son or  persons  shall  frequently  absent  or  neglect, 
upon  the  Lord's  day,  the  public  worship  of  God  that 
is  approved  of  by  tills  government,  shall  forfeit  for 
every  such  default  ten  shillings. "  X 

The  following  "  Sunday  Excise  Law  "'  was  enacted 
in  1662  : ______^ ^__ 

*  Plym.  Col.  Rec,  Vol.  XI.  p.  58- 

*  Plvm.  ("ol.  Rec,  Vol.  XI,  p.  IQO. 
t  Plvm.  Col.  Rec  ,  Vol.  XI.  p.  1^2. 


344  SABIJATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

"  AVliereas,  com})!?!!!!!  is  iiuule  of  some  Ordinaiy 
keepers,  in  this  jiirisdiction,  that  tliey  do  allow  per- 
sons to  stay  on  the  Lord's-day,  drinking  in  their 
houses  in  the  interims  of  times  betAveen  the  exer- 
cises, especially  young  persons  and  such  as  stand 
not  in  need  thereof:  It  is  enacted  by  the  court  and 
the  authority  thereof,  that  no  Ordinary  keeper  in  this 
government,  shall  draw  any  wine  or  liquor  on  the 
Lord's-day.  for  any.  except  in  cases  of  necessity,  for  the 
relief  of  those  that  are  sick,  or  faint,  or  the  like,  for 
their  lefreshing,  on  the  i)enalty  of  paying  a  tine  of 
ten  shillings  for  every  default."  ■• 

In  1663  the  court  urges  the  strict  enforcement  of 
the  laws  against  traveling  and  unlawful  jneetings  on 
Sunday. f 

In  1682  the  general  court,  sitting  at  Plyimmth, 
enacted  the  following  : 

"To  prevent  profanation  of  the  Lord's-(hiy  by 
foreigners,  or  any  others,  unnecessarily  traveling 
through  our  towns  on  that  day  :  It  is  enacted  b}^ 
the  court,  that  a  tit  man  in  each  town  be  chosen,  unto 
whom,  whomsoever  hath  necessity  of  travel  on  the 
Lord's-day  in  case  of  danger  of  death  or  such  neces- 
sitous occasions,  shall  repair,  and  making  out  such 
occasions  satisfyingly  to  him,  shall  receive  a  ticket 
from  him  to  pass  on  about  such  like  occasions,  which 
if  the  traveler  attend  not  unto  it  shall  be  lawfid  for 
the  constable  or  any  man  that  meets  him,  to  take 
him  up,  and  stop  him  until  he  be  brought  before 
authority,  or  pay  his  fine  for  such  transgression,  as 
))y  law  in  that  case  is  provided.  And  if  it  after  shall 
ai)pear  that  his  plea  was  false,  then  may  he  be  appre- 
hended at  another  time,  and  made  to  pay  his  fine 
as  aforesaid." t 

In  1674  : 

*  Plvm.  Col.  Rec,  Vol.  XI,  p.  187. 
•t  lb.,  p.  140.     1:Ib.,p.  3.5S. 


SABBATH    AXD    SUXDAY.  345 

''It  is  enacted  by  the  court,  that  as  to  the  restrain- 
ing of  abuses  in  'ordinaries,'  that  no  ordinary 
keeper  shall  sell  or  give  any  kind  of  drink  to  inhabi- 
tants of  the  town  upon  the  Lord's-day  :  and  also  that 
all  ordinary  keepers  be  required  to  clear  their  houses 
of  all  town  dwellers  and  strangers  that  are  there  (on 
a  drinking  account),  except  such  as  lodge  in  the 
house,  by  the  shutting  in  of  the  daylight,  upon  the  for- 
feiture of  live  shillings,  the  one-half  to  the  informer, 
and  the  other  half  to  the  town's  use.  "  * 

In  the  year  1665,  the  following  law  was  enacted 
against  "  Sleeping  in  Cluuch  :" 

"  Whereas,  complaint  is  made  unto  the  court,  of 
great  al)use  in  sundry  towns  of  this  jurisdiction,  by 
persons  there  behaving  themselves  profanely,  by  being 
without  doors  at  the  meeting  house  on  the  L(n-d's- 
days  in  time  of  exercise,  and  there  misdemeaning 
themselves  I)y  jesting,  sleeping,  or  the  like  :  It  is 
enacted  by  the  court"  and  hereby  ordered  that  the 
constables  of  each  township  in  this  jurisdiction  shall, 
in  their  respect iNc  towns,  take  special  notice  of  such 
persons,  and  to  admonish  them  ;  and  if  notwithstand 
ing.  they  shall  persist  on  in  such  practices,  that  he 
shall  set  them  in  the  stocks,  and  in  case  this  will  not 
reclaim  them,  that  they  return  their  names  to  the 
Court."  f 

Four  years  later.  July.  1669.  this  law  was  further 
added  to  as  follows  : 

'It  is  enacted  by  the  court,  that  the  constable  or 
his  deputy  in  each  respective  town  of  this  govern- 
ment, shall  diligently  look  after  such  as  sleep  or  play 
about  the  meeting  house  in  times  of  the  public  wor- 
ship of  God  on  the  Lord's-day.  and  take  notice  of 
their  names,  and  return  such  of  them  to  the  court 
who  do  not,  after  warning  given  to  them,  reform. 

"     -It).,  p.  236.  ' 

♦•Plyni.  Col.  Eec.  XI,  p.  214. 


34G  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

"  As  also  that  unnecessary  violent  lidinsr  '>n  the 
Lord's  day;  the  persons  that'  so  offend,  their  names 
to  be  returned  to  the  next  court  after  the  said  of- 
fense. 

"It  is  enacted  by  the  court,  that  any  person  or 
persons  that  shall  be  found  smoking  of  tobacco  on 
the  Lord's-day,  going  to  or  coming'from  tlie  meet- 
ings, within  two  mites  of  the  meeting  house,  shall 
pay  twelve  pence  for  every  such  default  to  tlie  colo- 
ny's use."* 

In  1668  the  matter  of  attendanc*'  on  pu])lic  wor- 
ship was  again  taken  up,  and  the  following  law^ 
(^nacted  : 

"  Whereas,  the  court  takes  notice  of  great  neglect 
of  frequenting  the  public  worship  of  God  on  the 
Lord's-day  :  it  is  enacted  by  the  court  and  tlie  au 
thority  thereof  that  the  selectmen  shall  take  notice  of 
such  in  their  townships  as  neglect,  throiigh  profane- 
ness  or  slothfulness,  to  come  to  the  publicworship  of 
God,  and  shall  require  an  accoiuit  of  them  ;  and  if 
they  give  them  not  satisfaction,  that  then  they  i-eturn 
their  name  to  the  court."  f 

This  not  having  the  desired  effect,  ihe  following 
was  enacted  in  June.  1670  : 

"  For  the  further  prevention  of  the  profanation  of 
the  Lord's-day.  it  is  enacted  by  the  court  and  the 
authority  thereof,  that  the  selectmen  of  the  several 
towns  of  this  jurisdiction,  or  any  one  of  them.  may. 
or  shall,  as  there  be  occasion,  take  Avitli  him  the  con- 
stable or  his  deputy,  and  lepair  to  any  house  or 
place  where  they  may  suspect  that  any  sloth  fully  do 
lurk  at  home,  or  get  together  in  ccmipanies,  to  neg- 
lect the  public  worshi])  of  God.  or  profane  the  Lords- 
day  ;  and,  finding  any  such  disorder,  shall    return 

*  Plym.  ("ol.  liec.  Vol.  XI,  pp.  •>24,  225. 
t  Plymouth  Colony  Records,  Vol.  XI,  pp.  '*]',,  318. 


SABBATH     AND    SUNDAY. 


34' 


the  names  of  the  persons  to  the  next  court  and  give; 
not  ce  also  of  anv  particular  miscarriage  that  the.>^ 
have  'aken  notice  of.  tliat  it  may  be  inqmred  into. 

In  1652  and  again  in  1656,  laws  were  passed,  pro- 
hibitini,^  Indians  from  hunting,  working  or  i)laying 
on  Sunday,  within  the  limits  of  the  colony,  f 

In  1691  Plymouth  became  united  to  Massaclui- 
setts  under  a  new  charter,  from  which  time  their 
histories  are  identical. 

M A SSACnr SETTS-BAY    COLONY. 

There  were  no  formal  statutes  concerning  Sunday 
bv  tlie  local  authorities  of  this  colony  during  the 
tiVst  years  of  its  existenc.e.  The  "  first  general  let- 
ter "  from  the  governor  and  deputy  of  the  '  Com- 
pany "  in  England,  dated  April  17th,  1629.  <-ontained 
the  following  instruction  : 

"  And  to  the  end  the  Sabbath  may  '/e  ;-^l^;;;''^^^^ 
in  a  religious  manner,  we  appomt  ^l'^'\  ".,,X^  " . 
h-ihit  *he  Dlantation,  both  for  the  general  syid  i)ai- 
ll^r^ioyments,  may  surcea^  the.r  a^  ev.ry 
Saturday  throughout  the  year,  at  thiee  <  ^  J^^^  .';^^*^ 
in  the  afternoon,  and  that  they  ^P^f ,^  \'.  fi,^^,^'; 
day  in  catechising,  and  preparations  toi  the  babbath. 
as  the  ministers  may  direct.    X  ., 

This  instruction  and  the  '•common  law,    like  tba 
of    the   Plymouth    colony,    formed    the   basis    o 
of    the    earliest    customs.      In    the    formation   o 
the  government  upon  those  points  wherein  the   civil 
authorities  were  in  doubt  concering  any  .luestion. 
the   matter  was  referred  to  the    "elders.       Among 

*Ib.,  p.  228. 

tlb..pp.  60,  184. 

t  Mass.  Colony  Records,  \  ol.  1,  ]).  -i-'-J- 


:»48  SABBATH     AND    SLT^^DAY. 

the  "  Answers  of  the  Reverend  Elders  to  certain 
questions  propounded  to  tliem."  November  18th, 
1644,  is  the  tollowin.i>- : 

"  The  striking  of  a  neighbor  luiiy  be  punished 
with  some  pecuniary  mulct,  when  the  striking  of  a 
father  may  be  punished  with  death.  So  any  sin 
committed  with  an  high  hand,  as  the  gathering  of 
sticks  on  the  Sabbath-day,  may  be  i)unished  with 
death,  when  a  lesser  punishment  might  serve  for 
gathering  sticks  privily,  and  in  some  need."* 

Concerning  this  i)()inl,  Hutchinson,   the  historian, 

says  : 

"In  the  tirst  draught  of  the  laws  l)y  Mr.  Cotton, 
which  1  have  seen  corrected  with  Mr.  Winthrop's 
hand,  diver.se  other  offenses  were  made  capital,  viz., 
profaning  the  Lords  day  in  a  careless  or  scornful 
neglect  or  contempt  thereof.     Numbers  15  :  30-36."  f 

On  the  4th  of  November,  1646,  the  general  court 
decreed : 

"  That  when'soever  the  ministry  of  the  Word  is 
established,  according  to  the  order  of  the  gospel, 
throughout  this  jiu-isdiction,  every  person  shall  duly 
resort  and  attend  thereunto,  respectively  upon  the 
Loid's-days,  and  upon  -such  public  fast  days  and 
days  of  thanksgiving  as  are  to  be  generally  held  l\v 
the  appointment  of  authority.  And  if  any  per.son 
within  this  jurisdiction  shall,  without  just  andneces- 
.sary  cause,  withdraw  himself  from  hearing  the  pub- 
lic ministry  of  the  Word,  after  due  means  of  convic- 
tion used,  he  shall  forfeit  for  his  ab.sence  from  every 
such  public  meeting  tive  shillings.":}: 

Some  questions  having  arisen  concerning  the  mean- 

*Ib.,  Vol.  2,  p.  93. 

t  Hist.  Mas,s.,  Vol.  1,  p.  390. 

:t  Masi«.  Col  Records,  Vol.  2,  p.  178. 


SABBATH    AXD    SUNDAY.  349 

in^  of  the  passage  "after  due  conviction  used,"  in 
the  above  hiw,  it  Avas  exphiined  May  10th,  1649,  as 
meaning-  '' legal  conviction."  A  little  later,  a  genr 
eral  court,  sitting  at  Boston,  on  the  30th  of  August, 
1658,  enacted  the  following  : 

"  Upon  information  of  sundry  abuses  and  misde- 
meanors committed  by  several  persons  on  the  Lord's- 
day,  not  only  by  children  playing  in  the  streets  and 
other  places,  but  ])y  youths,  maids  and  olhei-  per- 
sons, both  strangers  and  others,  uncivilly  walking 
the  streets  and  fields,  traveling  from  town  to  town, 
going  on  shipboard,  frequenting  common  houses  and 
other  places  to  drink,  sport,  and  otherwise  to  mis- 
spend tliat  precious  time,  which  things  tend  much 
to  the  dishonor  of  God.  the  reproach  of  religion,  and 
the  profanation  of  his  holy  Sal)bath,  the  sanctifica- 
tion  of  Avhich  is  sometimes  put  for  all  duties  imme- 
diately respecting  the  service  of  God.  contained  in  the 
first  table  :  It  is  therefore  ordered  by  this  court  and  the 
authority  thereof,  that  no  children,  youths,  maids,  or 
other  persons,  shall  transgress  in  the  like  kind,  on 
penaltj"  of  being  reputed  great  provokers  of  the  high 
displeasure  of  Almighty  God,  and  further  incurring 
the  penalties  hereafter  expressed,  namely,  that  the 
parents  and  governors  of  all  children  above  seven 
years  old,  (not  that  we  approve  of  younger  children 
in  evil,)  for  the  first  offense  in  that  kind,  ui^on  due 
proof  before  any  magistrate,  town  commissioner,  or 
selectman  of  the  town  where  such  offense  shall  be  com- 
mitted, shall  be  admonished;  for  a  second  offense,  upon 
due  proof,  as  aforesaid,  shall  pay  a  fine  of  five  shillings; 
for  a  third  offense,  upon  due  proof,  as  aforesaid,  ten 
shillings  ;  and  if  the}'  shall  again  offend  in  this  kind, 
they  shall  be  presented  to  the  county  courts,  who 
shall  augment  punishment,  according  to  the  merit  of 
the  fact.  And  for  all  youths  and  maids,  above  four- 
teen jears  of  age,  and  all  elder  persons  whatsoever 


350  SABBATH    AND    SL'XDAY. 

that  shnll  offcud  and  be  convicted  as  aforesaid,  either 
for  playing,  uncivilly  walking,  drinking,  traveling 
from  town  to  town,  going  on  shipboard,  sporting  or 
any  way  misspending  that  precious  time,  shall,  for  the 
tirst  olfense,  be  admonished,  upon  due  proof,  as  afore- 
said ;  for  a  second  offense,  shall  pay  as  a  fine,  five  shil- 
lings ;  and  for  a  third  offense,  ten  shillings  ;  and  if 
any  shall  farther  offend  that  way,  they  shall  Ix' 
presented  to  the  next  county  court,  who  shall  aug- 
ment punishment  according  to  the  nature  of  the  of- 
fense ;  and  if  any  be  unable  or  unwilling  to  pay  the 
aforesaid  tines,  tiiey  shall  be  whipped  by  the  consta- 
ble not  exceeding  five  stripes  for  ten  shillings  fine  ; 
and  this  to  be  imderstood  of  such  offenses  as  shall 
be  committed  during  the  daylight  of  the  Lord's - 
day."* 

In  volume  four  another  record  of  this  action  may 
be  found  with  this  addition  : 

'•This  law  is  to  be  transcribed  by  the  constables  of 
eacli  town,  and  posted  upon  the  meeting  house  door, 
there  to  rem;un  the  space  of  one  month,  at  least."  f 

On  the  18th  of  October  of  the  following  year, 
1654,  a  general  court,  sitting  at  Boston,  enacted 
that : 

•'  Whereas,  experience  gives  us  cause  to  complain 
of  nuich  disorder  in  time  of  public  ordinances,  in 
the  meeting  houses  of  several  congregations  in  this 
jurisdiction,  through  the  unreverent  carriage  and 
behavior  of  diverse  young  persons,  and  others,  not- 
withstanding the  best  means  that  have  been  hitherto 
used  in  the  said  assemblies,  for  the  reformation  there  - 
of,  it  is  therefore  ordered  by  this  court  and  the  author. 
ity  thereof,  that  it  shall  be  in  the  liberty  of  the  officers 
of  the  congregation,  and  the  selectmen  of  such  town^ 

*  lb.  Vol.  3,  pp.  316,  317. 
t  p.  151. 


SABP.ATH    AXD     SUXDAY.  351 

together,  to  noiuiiiatc  some  one  or  two  meet  persons, 
to  reform  all  such  disordered  persons  as  shall  offend 
by  any  misdemeanor,  either  in  the  congregation  or 
elsewhere  near  about  the  meeting  house,  either  In 
serious  reproof,  more  private  or  public,  or  other  the 
like  warning  and  meet  correction  of  the  magistrate 
or  C(mimissioners  of  that  town  judge  meet.  And  we 
are  not  doubtful  but  the  reverend  elders  of  the  sev- 
eral congi'egations.  according  to  their  wisdom,  will 
so  order  the  time  of  their  public  exercise,  that  none 
shall  be  ordinarily  occasioned  to  break  off  from  the 
congregation  before  the  full  conclusion  of  public  ex- 
ercises." * 

At  the  second  ses.sion  of  the  general  court  for 
1658,  held  at  Boston  on  the  19th  of  October,  in  view 
of  the  increase  of  Sunday  profanation,  the  following 
action  was  taken  ; 

"  Whereas  by  too  sad  experience  it  is  observed, 
the  sun  being  set,  both  every  Saturday  and  on  the 
Lord's-day,  young  people  and  others  take  liberty  to 
walk,  and  sport  themselves  in  the  streets  or  fields  in 
the  several  towns  in  this  jurisdiction,  to  the  dishonor 
of  God  and  the  disturbance  of  others  in  their  re- 
ligious exercises,  and  too  frequently  repair  to  public 
houses  of  entertainment  and  there  sit  drinking,  all 
which  tends,  not  only  to  the  hindering  of  due  pre- 
paration for  the  Sab])ath,  but  as  much  as  in  them 
lies  renders  the  ordinance  of  God  unprofitable,  and 
threatens  rooting  out  the  power  of  godliness,  and 
procuring  the  wrath  and  judgments  of  God  upon  us 
and  our  posterity  :  for  the  prevention  whereof  it  is 
ordered  by  this  court,  and  the  authority  thereof, 
that  if  any  person  or  persons  henceforth,  either  on 
the  Saturday  night  or  on  the  Lord's-day  night  after 
the  sun  is  set,  shall  be  found  sporting  in  the  streets 
or  fields  of  any  town  in  this  jurisdiction,  drinking  or 

*Ib.,  pp.  200,201. 


352  SABBATH    AND     Sl->s'J)AY. 

]»eing  in  Miiy  houses  of  eutertainiiu'iit  (unless  strangers 
or  sojourners,  as  in  their  lodgings),  and  can  not  give 
a  satisfactory  reason  to  such  magistrate  or  commis 
sioner  in  the  several  towns  as  shatl  have  cognizance 
thereof,  every  such  person  found,  coiuj^lained  of 
and  proved  transgressing,  shall  pay  tive  shillins  for 
every  such  transgression,  or  suffer  coporal  punish- 
ment, as  authority  aforesaid  shall  determine."  * 

At  a  general  court  called  by  order  of  the  coiuicil 
on  the  1st  of  August,  1665,  and  held  at  Boston  the 
1st  of  August,  the  following  was  enacted  : 

"  This  court  being  sensible  tliat  through  the 
Avicked  practices  of  many  persons  who  do  profane 
God's  holy  Sabbaths,  and  contemn  the  public  wor- 
ship of  his  house,  the  name  of  God  is  greatly  dishon- 
ored, and  the  profession  of  liis  peoi)le  here  greatly 
scandalized,  as  tending  to  all  profaneuess  and  irre- 
ligion,  as  also  that  by  reason  of  the  late  order  of  Oct. 
::iOth,  1663,  remitting  the  tines  imposed  on  such  to 
the  use  of  the  several  towns,  the  laws  made  for  re- 
claiming such  enormities  are  become  ineffectual,  do 
therefore  order  and  enact,  that  henceforth  all  tines 
imposed  according  to  law  for  i)rofanation  of  the 
Sabbath,  contempt  or  neglect  of  God's  public  wor 
ship,  reproaching  the  laws  and  authority  here  estab- 
lished, according  to  his  Majesty's  charter,  shall  be  to 
the  use  of  the  several  counties  as  formerly,  anything 
in  the  above  said  law  to  the  contrary  notwithstaml- 
ing;  and  in  case  any  person  or  persons  so  sentenced 
do  neglect  or  refuse  to  pay  such  tine  or  mulct  as  shall 
be  legally  imposed  on  them,  or  give  security  in 
court,  to  the  treasurer  for  payment  thereof,  every 
such  ])erson  or  persons,  so  refusing  or  neglecting 
to  submit  to  the  court's  sentence,  shall  for  such 
his  contempt  be  corporally  })unished  according  as 
the  court  that  hath  cognizance  of  the  case  shall  d^- 

*  Mass.  ("ol.  Rec,  vol.  4,  p.  ;wr. 


SABBATH     AND     SUNDAY.  353 

lermine,  and  where  any  are  corporally  punished, 
their  fines  shall  be  remitted."* 

Three  years  later,  October,  1668,  the  General 
Court,  sitting  at  Boston,  took  up  this  matter  again, 
and  passed  the  following  : 

"  For  the  better  prevention  of  the  breach  of  thei 
Sabbath,  it  is  enacted  by  this  court  and  the  authority 
thereof,  that  no  servile  work  shall  be  done  on  that 
day,  viz.  such  as  are  not  works  of  piety, of  charity, or  of 
necessity  ;  and  when  other  works  are  done  on  that 
day,  the  persons  so  doing,  upon  complaint  or  pre-"^ 
sentment,  being  legally  convicted  thereof  before  any 
magistrate  or  county  court,  shall  pay  for  the  first  oi- 
fense  ten  shillings  fine,  and  for  every  offense  after  to'- 
be  doubled  ;  and,  in  case  the  offense  herein  be  cir- 
cumstanced with  profaneness  or  high-handed  pre- 
sumption, the  penalty  is  to  be  augmented  at  the  dis- 
cretion of  the  judges.  As  an  addition  to  the  law 
for  preventing  profaning  of  the  Sabbath-day  by  do- 
ing servile  work,  this  court  doth  order,  that  what-' 
soever  person  in  this  jurisdiction  shall  travel  upon* 
the  Lord's-day,  either  on  horseback  or  on  foot,  of  by 
boats  from  or  out  of  their  own  town  to  any  unlaw- 
ful assembly  or  meeting  not  allowed  by  law,  are 
hereby  declared  to  be  profaners  of  the  Sabbath,  and 
shall  be  proceeded  against  as  the  persons  that  pro- 
fane the  Lord's-day  by  servile  w^ork."  f 

At  a  general  court  held  in  Boston  in  1667,  the 
Sunday  laws  were  further  amended  by  an  act  of  the 
34th  of  May,  running  as  follows  : 

' '  This  Court,  being  desirous  to  prevent  all  occa- 
sions of  complaint,  referring  to  the  profanation  of 
the  Sabbath,  and  as  an  addition  to  former  laws,  do 

*  Records  of  the  Colony  of  Mass.  Bay,  Vol.  4,  p.  276, 
t  lb.,  p.  395. 

(23) 


354  SABBATH   AND   SUNDAY. 

order  and  enact,  that  all  the  laws  for  sanctification 
of  the  Sabbath  and  preventing  the  profaning  thereof, 
be  twice  in  the  year,  viz. ,  in  March  and  in  September, 
publicly  read  by  the  minister  or  ministers  on  the  Lord's- 
day  in  the  several  respective  assembles  within  this  jur- 
isdiction, and  all  people  by  him  cautioned  to  take 
heed  to  the  observance  thereof.  And  the  selectmen 
are  hereby  ordered  to  see  to  it  that  there  be  one  man 
appointed  to  inspect  the  ten  families  of  his  neighbors, 
which  ty thing  man  or  men  shall,  and  are  hereby, 
have  power  (this  language  is  badly  arranged,  but 
such  is  the  record)  in  the  absence  of  the  constable, 
to  apprehend  all  Sabbath-breakers  and  disorderly 
tipplers,  or  such  as  keep  licensed  houses  or  others 
that  shall  suifer  any  disorders  in  their  houses 
on  the  Sabbath-day,  or  evening  after,  or  at  any  other 
time,  and  to  carry  them  before  a  magistrate  or  other 
authority,  or  commit  to  prison  ms  any  constable  may 
do,  to  be  proceeded  with  according  to  law. 

"  And  for  the  better  putting  a  restraint  and  secur- 
ing offenders  that  shall  any  way  transgress  against 
the  laws,  tittle  Sabbath,  either  in  the  nii  etiug  house 
by  abusive  carriage  or  misbehavior,  by  making  any 
noise  or  otherwise,  or  during  the  day  time,  being  laid 
hold  on  by  any  of  the  inhabitants  shall,  by  ihe  said 
person  appointed  to  inspect  this  law,  be  forthwith 
carried  forth  and  put  inio  a  cage  in  Boston,  which 
is  appointed  to  be  forthwith  by  the  selecimen.  and  to 
be  set  up  in  the  market-place  and  in  such  other 
towns  as  the  county  courts  shall  appoint,  there 
to  remain  till  authority  shall  examine  the  per- 
son offending  and  give  order  for  his  punishment,  as 
the  matter  may  require,  according  to  the  laws  relat- 
ing to  the  Sabbath."  * 

The  same  court  made  additional  laws  concerning 
Quaker  meetings,  ordering  all  constables,  on  penalty 

♦'Records  of  the  Colony  of  Mass.  Bay,  Vol.  5,  p.  133. 


8A.fiBATH    AND   SUKDAY.  355 

of  the  forfeiture  of  forty  shillings,  to  "make  diligent 
^p,rch  "  for  such  gatherings,  especially  on  the  Lord's- 
day,  and  if  denied  admittance,  to  break  dowjc*  the 
doors  and  arrest  the  frequenters  according  to  law. 
It  also  ordered  that  persons  complained  of,  as  being 
absent  from  public  service  on  Sunday,  who  would 
neither  affirm  that  they  were  present  nor  that  they 
were  "necessarily  absent  by  the  providence  of  God," 
should  be  thereupon  adjudged  as  convicted,  and 
punished  accordingly.  * 

October  15th,  1673,  the  foregoing  laws  were 
amended  as  follows : 

"As  an  addition  to  the  law  of  the  Sabbath,  Sect, 
the  second,  it  is  ordered  by  the  court  and  the  au- 
thority thereof  besides  the  penalty  upon  the  persons 
there  offending,  the  public  house  keeper,  where  any 
such  person  or  persons  are  found  so  transgressing 
(as  in  the  said  law  is  expressed),  shall  pay  five  shil- 
lings to  the  treasury  of  the  county  where  the  offense 
Is  committed."! 

On  the  10th  of  October,  1677,  the  general  court 
i^  session  at  Boston,  made  the  following  additions  to 
this  law : 

"  As  an  addition  to  the  late  law  made  in  May  last 
for  the  prevention  of  profanation  of  the  Sabbath, 
and  strengthening  the  hands  of  tything  men  ap- 
pointed to  inspect  the  same,  it  is  ordered  that  those 
tything  man  shall  bs  and  ars  hereby  appointed  and 
empowered  to  inspect  public  licensed  houses,  as  well 
as  private  and  unlicensed  houses,  houses  of  enter- 
tainment, as  also  ex  officio  to  enter  any  such  houses 

*  lb.,  p.  134. 
t  Records  of  the  Colony  of  Mass.  Bay,  Vol.  4,  p.  562. 


356  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

and  discharge  their  duty  according  to  law  ;  and  the 
said  ty thing  men  are  empowered  to  assist  one  another 
in  their  several  precints  and  to  act  in  one  another's 
precints  with  as  full  power  as  in  their  own,  and  yet 
to  retain  their  special  charges  within  their  own 
bounds."* 

Two  years  later,  October  15th,  1679,  the  general 
court,  at  Boston,  enacted  certain  local  laws,  of 
which  the  following  is  a  copy  : 

"For  prevention  of  profanation  of  the  Sabbath, 
and  disorders  on  Saturday  night,  by  horses  and  carts 
passing  late  out  of  the  town  of  Boston,  it  is  ordered 
and  enacted  by  this  court,  that  there  be  a  ward, 
from  sunset  on  Saturday  night,  until  nine  of  the 
clock  or  after,  consisting  of  one  of  the  selectmen  or 
constables  of  Boston,  with  two  or  more  meet  per- 
sons, who  shall  walk  between  the  fortification  and 
the  town's  end,  and  upon  no  pretense  whatsoever 
suffer  any  cart  to  pass  out  of  the  town  after  sunset,  i -or 
any  footman  or  horseman,  without  such  good  ac- 
count of  the  necessity  of  his  business  as  may  be  to 
their  satisfaction  ;  and  all  persons  attempting  to  ride 
or  drive  out  of  town  after  sunset,  without  such  rea- 
sonable satisfaction  given,  shall  be  apprehended  and 
brought  before  authority  to  be  proceeded  against  as 
Sabbath-breakers ;  and  all  other  towns  are  empow- 
ered to  do  the  like  as  need  shall  be."  f 

By  the  same  court,  the  reading  of  the  Sunday  laws 
was  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  town  clerks,  to  be 
done  at  some  public  meeting  of  the  town,  instead  of 
being  done  by  the  ministers  on  Sunday.  X 

Thus  the  laws  stood  with  little  or  no  change  until 
the  new  charter  and  the  provincial  government. 

*  Records  of  the  Colony  of  Mass.  Bay,  Vol.  5,  p.  156. 

t  lb.,  pp.  239.  240. 

$7b..  p.  243. 


SABBATH    AND   SUNDAY.  357 

In  1691,  Massachusetts,  including  Plymouth  col- 
ony and  other  territories  lying  north  and  east,  was 
reorganized  under  a  new  charter  from  King  William 
and  Queen  Mary.  The  change  did  not,  however, 
materially  affect  the  status  of  the  Sunday  laws. 

On  the  23d  of  August,  1695,  a  general  act  was 
passed  which  embodied  the  substance  of  all  the 
former  colonial  laws.     By  this,  all  ' '  labor  and  sport- 
ing "  was  prohibited  under  penalty  of  five  shillings 
fine.      All    "traveling"   except  in  cases   of  great 
necessity  was  punishable  by  a  fine  of  twenty  shil- 
lings.    The  keepers  of  public  houses  were  forbidden 
to  entertain  any  except  travelers  and  boarders,  on 
penalty  of  five  shillings  fine.     Any  one  justice  of 
the  peace  was  empowered  to  try  the  cases,  and  on 
his  judgment  to  pass  sentence,  and  the  fines,  if  not 
forthcoming,  were  to  be  collected  by  distraint.     If 
the  offender  was  unable  to  pay  the  fine,  he  was  to  be 
'•'set  in  the  stocks,"  or  "caged,"  not  to  exceed  three 
hours.     These  acts  were  in  force  from  sunset  on  the 
seventh  day  forward.     All  civil  officers  and  parents 
were  enjoined  to  carefully  enforce  these  acts.* 

In  1711,  this  law  was  added  to  in  that  twelve  hours 
imprisonment  was  made  one  of  the  penalties  of 
transgression,  and  constables  were  especially  em- 
powered and  instructed  to  labor  diligently  to  pre- 
vent profanation  of  the  Sunday,  f 

*  Acts  and  Laws  of  the  Province  of  Mass..  Bay,  from  1692  to 
1719,  folio  edition,  London,  1724,  pp.  15,  16- 
tlb.,p.  277. 


358  SABBATH     AND    SUNDAY. 

Four  years  later,  in  1715,  we  find  Sunday  desecra- 
tion on  the  increase,  since,  although  many  laws  have 
been  passed,  it  is  said  :  ' '  Many  persons  do  presume 
to  work  and  travel  on  the  said  day; "  so  that  the 
authorities  saw  fit  to  increase  the  penalty  for  ' '  work- 
ing or  playing  "  to  ten  shillings,  and  that  for  travel- 
ing to  twenty  shillings  for  the  first  offense.  For  the 
second  offense  these  fines  were  doubled,  and  the 
parties  made  to  give  ' '  sureties  "  for  good  behavior 
in  the  future.  A  month's  continued  absence  from 
the  public  Sunday  services  was  also  made  finable  in 
the  sum  of  twenty  shillings,  or  "three  hours  in  the 
stocks  or  cage."* 

In  1727,  the  fine  for  "  working  or  playing  "  was  in- 
creased to  fifteen  shillings,  and  that  for  traveling  to 
thirty  shillings  for  the  first  offense,  and  for  the  sec- 
ond three  pounds.  If  the  offender  failed  to  pay,  he 
was  liable  to  the  stocks  or  the  cage  for  four  hours, 
or  to  imprisonment  in  the  county  jail,  not  to  exceed 
five  days.  At  this  time,  also,  funerals,  since  they 
induced  "gi-eat  profanation"  of  Sunday,  by  the 
traveling  of  children  and  servants  in  the  streets, 
were  prohibited,  except  in  extreme  cases,  and  then 
under  license  from  a  civil  officer  of  the  town.  The 
director  of  a  funeral  transgressing  this  was  to  be  fined 
forty  shillings,  and  the  sexton  or  grave  digger  twenty 
shillings.  Shops  for  the  retailing  of  strong  drinks.were 
mIso  to  be  searched  by  the  proper  officers,  and  if  any 

*  Acts  and  Laws  of  the  Province  of  Mass.  Bay,  p.  328. 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  359 

were  found  there  drinking,  the  proprietor  and  the 
drinker  were  each  to  pay  five  shillings.  * 

In  1741,  an  addit^jonal  act  was  passed  against 
slothfully  loitering  in  the  streets  or  fields,  making 
the  penalty  twenty  shillings  for  the  first  offense  and 
forty  for  the  second,  with  costs,  and  imprisonment 
until  paid.     Appeal  to  the  next  court  was  allowed,  f 

In  1760,  a  general  amendment  was  made  by  re" 
pealing  all  former  laws  relative  to  Sunday,  and  enact- 
ing a  new  code.  The  reasons  for  repealing  are  thus 
stated  : 

' '  Whereas  by  reason  of  different  constructions  of 
the  several  laws  now  in  force  relating  to  the  obser- 
vation of  the  Lord's-day,  or  Christian  Sabbath,  the 
said  laws  have  not  been  duly  executed,  and,  not- 
withstanding the  pious  intention  of  the  legislators, 
the  Lord's-day  hath  been  greatly  and  frequently  pro- 
faned, therefore,"  etc. 

The  preface  to  the  new  law  is  as  follows  : 

' '  And  whereas,  it  is  the  duty  of  all  persons,  upon 
the  Lord's-day,  carefully  to  apply  themselves  pub- 
licly and  privately  to  religion  and  piety,  the  profana- 
tion of  the  Lord's-day  is  highly  offensive  to  Almighty 
God ;  of  evil  example,  and  tends  to  the  grief  and 
disturbance  of  all  pious  and  religiously  disposed 
persons,  therefore,"  etc. 

The  main  features  of  the  new  code  were  the  same 
i\s  those  of  the  former  laws.  The  provisions  were 
these  : 


*  Acts  and  Resolves  of  the  Province  of  Mass.  Bav,  Vol.  2. 
p.  456. 

tTb.,p.  1,071,    Boston  edition,  1874. 


360  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

1.  Work  or  play,  on  land  or  water,  is  fined  not 
less  than  ten  nor  more  than  twenty  shillings. 

2.  Traveling  by  any  one  except  in  extremity, 
and  then  only  far  enough  for  immediate  relief,  is 
liable  to  the  same  penalty. 

'6.  Licensed  public  house  keepers  are  forbidden  to 
entertain  any  except  "travelers,  strangers  and  lodg- 
ers" in  their  houses  or  about  their  premises,  for  the 
purpose  of  drinking,  playing,  lounging,  or  doing 
any  secular  business  whatever,  on  penalty  of  ten 
shillings  ;  the  person  lounging,  etc.,  also  paying  not 
less  than  five  shillings.  On  the  second  conviction, 
the  inn-keeper  is  made  to  pay  twenty  shillings,  and 
on  the  third  offense  to  lose  his  lioense. 

4,  Loitering,  walking,  or  gathering  in  companies 
in  "streets,  fields,  orchards,  lanes,  wharves,"  etc.>  is 
prohibited  on  pain  of  five  shillings  fine  ;  and  on  a 
second  conviction,  the  offender  is  required  t-o  give 
bail  for  future  obedience. 

.  5.  Absence  from  public  service  for  one  month  is 
fined  ten  shillings. 

6.  No  one  is  to  assist  at  any  funeral,  not  even  to 
ling  a  bell,  unless  it  be  a  licensed  funeral,  on  penalty 
of  twenty  shillings  fine.  In  Boston,  however,  a 
funeral  might  be  attended  after  sunset  without  a  li- 
cense. 

7.  The  observance  of  the  Sunday  was  to  com- 
mence from  sunset  on  the  seventh  day. 

8.  Twelve  wardens  were  appointed  in  each  town 
to  execute  these  laws  ;  these  were  to  look   after  all 


SABBATH     AND    SUNDAY,  361 

infringements  of  the  laws,  enter  all  suspected  places, " 
examine  or  inquire  after  all  suspected  persons,  etc. 
In  Boston,  they  were  to  patrol  the  streets  every  Sun- 
day (very  stormy  or  cold  days  excepted),  and  dili- 
gently watch  and  search  for  offenders.  In  case  any 
one  convicted  on  any  point  in  this  code  failed  to  pay 
his  fine  at  once,  he  was  to  be  committed  to  the  com- 
mon jail,  not  less  than  five  nor  more  than  ten  days. 
These  laws  were  to  be  read  at  the  "March  meeting" 
of  the  towns  each  year.  * 

In  1761,  this  code  was  supplemented  by  another 
act  making  it  five  pounds  fine  to  give  any  false 
answers  to  a  warden,  or  to  refuse  him  aid  or  inform- 
ation when  called  upon.f  These  were  all  carried 
over,  in  essence,  to  the  Stat«  laws,  as  will  be  seen  in 
the  next  section. 

STATE  GOVERNMENT    OF   MASSACnUSETTS. 

The  State  Constitution  of  Massachusetts  went  into 
oiDcration  in  1780.  Among  the  "Perpetual  Laws" 
we  find  a  Sunday  code,  passed  October  the  32d, 
1783,  prefaced  by  the  following  preamble  : 

•'Whereas,  the  observance  of  the  Lord's  day  is 
highly  promotive  of  the  w^elfare  of  the  community, 
by  affording  necessary  seasons  for  relaxation  from 
labor  and  the  cares  of  business  ;  for  moral  reflections 
and  conversations  on  the  duties  of  life,  and  the  fre- 
quent errors  of  human  conduct ;  for  public  and  pri- 
vate worship  of  the  Maker,  Governor  and  Judge  of 

*  Acts  and  Laws  of  the  the  Province  of  Mass.  Bay,  folio 
edition,  pp.  392  to  397. 

t  Acts  and  Laws  of  the  Province  of  Mass.  Bay,  folio  edi- 
tion, pp.  397.  398. 


362  SABBATH     AND    SUNDAY. 

the  world,  and  for  those  acts  of  charity  which  sup- 
port and  adorn  a  Christian  society ;  and  whereas, 
many  thoughtless  and  irreligious  persons,  inattentive 
to  the  duties  and  benefits  of  the  Lord's-day,  profane 
the  same  by  unnecessarily  pursuing  their  worldly 
business  and  recreations  on  that  day,  to  their  own 
great  damage,  as  members  of  a  Christian  society, 
and  to  the  great  disturbance  of  well-disposed  per- 
sons, and  to  the  great  damage  of  the  community  by 
producing  dissipation  of  manners  and  immoralities 
of  life ;  be  it  therefore  enacted  by  the  Senate  and 
House  of  Representatives,"  etc. 

This  law  is  much  like  the  former  provincial  laws. 
Its  leading  features  are  : 

1.  All  work,  all  play  or  attendance  on  any  public 
pHce  of  amusement  is  fined  not  less  than  ten  nor 
more  than  twenty  shillings. 

3.  All  traveling  by  any  person  is  subject  to  tite 
same  penal t3^ 

3.  Walking,  loitering,  or  gathering  anywhere  out 
of  doors  subjects  to  a  penalty  of  five  shillings. 

4.  No  aid  is  to  be  given  to  any  unlicensed  funeral 
by  sexton,  grave-digger,  porter,  bearer  or  bell-ringer, 
on  penalty  of  twenty  shillings  ;  and  no  funeral  is  to 
be  licensed  except  in  case  of  necessity. 

5.  All  retailers  of  liquors,  and  keepers  of  public 
liouses  of  entertainment,  are  forbidden  to  entertain 
any  one  in  or  about  their  premises,  or  allow  any 
Riling,  playing,  or  doing  of  any  secular  business,  on 
penalty  of  ten  shillings  for  the  first  offense,  twenty 
tor  the  second,  and  a  loss  of  his  license  "forever 
after''    for    the  third   offen.se.     Tlie   persons    thu*» 


SABBATH    AND   SUNDAY.  363 

"lounging,"  etc.,  to  pay  not  less  than  five  nor  more 
t-han  ten  shillings. 

6.  The  time  to  which  the  above  regulations  apply 
is  stated  to  be  from  the  "midnight  preceding"  to  the 
"  sunsetting  of  the  same  day." 

7.  All  entertainments  for  pleasure  and  all  loung- 
ing, drinking,  etc.,  are  prohibited  on  the  evening 
preceding  the  Sunday. 

8.  Absence  from  public  meetings  for  one  montli 
without  sufficient  reason,  is  fined  ten  shillings,  "pro- 
vided there  be  any  place  of  worship  on  which  the 
offender  can  conscientiously  and  conveniently  at- 
tend." 

9.  Rude  or  indecent  behavior  ' '  within  the  walls  of 
any  house  of  public  worship,"  is  finable  in  "not less 
than  five  nor  more  than  forty  shillings."  Servants, 
and  persons  under  age,  whose  masters,  parents  or 
guardians  refuse  to  pay  such  fine,  are  to  be  impris- 
oned not  less  than  three  nor  more  than  ten  days. 

10.  Willful  interruption  or  disturbance  of  any  a<<- 
sembly  for  public  worship  is  made  finable  in  a  sum 
from  twenty  shillings  to  ten  pounds, 

11.  No  civil  process  shall  be  served  between  mid- 
night on  Seventh-day  and  midnight  on  Sunday, 
vmder  penalty  of  being  made  void,  and  liability  of 
arrest  for  damages. 

12 — 18.  Twelve  wardens  to  each  town  or  district 
were  to  be  chosen  annually.  These  were  given  very 
full  powers  to  search  for,  inquire  after,  and  arrest  all 
offenders.     When  chosen  they  could  not  refuse  to 


364  SABBATH     AND   SUNDAY. 

serve  uuder  a  heavy  fine,  nor  neglect  any  duty  with 
impunity.  False  answers  or  refusal  to  aid  such 
officers  were  severely  punished.  A  warden's  oath 
alone  was  sufficient  evidence  to  convict  an  offender. 
Each  warden  to  carry  a  white  ' '  wand,  not  less  than 
seven  feet  in  length,  as  a  badge  of  his  office,"  when 
on  duty. 

19.  Masters  and  parents  were  made  liable  for  the 
tines  of  servants  and  children. 

30.  All  persons  not  paying  their  fines  when  levied, 
to  be  imprisoned  in  the  county  jail,  not  less  than  five 
nor  more  than  ten  days. 

31.  The  appointment  of  these  wardens  does  not 
release  any  other  officers  from  their  usual  duties  in 
connection  with  the  Sunday  laws. 

33.  Any  justice  of  the  peace  to  have  jurisdiction 
over  all  cases  where  the  fine  does  not  exceed  forty 
shillings.  Fines  not  otherwise  arranged  for  to  be 
applied  for  the  support  of  the  poor.  These  laws  to 
be  publicly  read  at  stated  times,  and  all  former  laws 
relative  to  the  Sunday  to  be  repealed.  * 

There  are  but  few  noteworthy  differences  between 
this  elaborate  code  and  the  provincial  laws  which 
preceded  it.  Greater  liberty  of  conscience  is  granted 
to  those  who  do  not  accord  with  the  ruling  orthodox 
church,  and  corporal  punishment,  as  a  penalty,  is 
laid  aside.  But  our  readers  are  familiar  with  the 
fact  that  at  the  present  time  these  laws  are  essen- 

*  Perpetual  Laws  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Mass.  from  1780 
to  1789,  folio  edition,  pp.  198,  to  203. 


SABBATH    AN^D   SUNDAY.  365 

tially  a  "dead  letter,"  and  that  the  power  of  ortho- 
doxy is  far  less  in  Massachusetts  now  than  in  former 
times.  The  present  statute  exempts  those  who  ob- 
serve the  Seventh-day  from  the  penalties  of  the  Sun- 
day law,  providing  they  prove  that  they  conaeien- 
tioudy  and  habitually  observe  the  Sabbath. 

NEW    HAVEN   COLONY. 

The  primary  compact  formed  by  the  colonists  at 
New  Haven  shows  that  they  took  the  Bible  as  their 
guide  in  all  things.  The  common  law,  based  upon 
the  Sabbath  laws  of  the  Jewish  theocracy,  was  the 
accepted  authority  concerning  the  Sunday.  In  De- 
cember, 1647,  the  transaction  of  certain  ship  masters 
in  the  harbor  of  New  Haven,  on  Sunday,  brought 
the  matter  before  the  civil  court.  The  offenders, 
after  examination,  were  dismissed,  but  the  case 
created  considerable  interest,  and  the  times  seemed 
to  demand  some  definite  legislation.  Hence,  on  the 
31st  of  January,  1647,  the  court  took  the  following 
action  : 

"It  was  propounded  to  the  court  to  consider 
whether  it  were  not  meet  to  make  a  law  for  restrain- 
ing of  persons  from  their  ordinary  outward  employ- 
ments on  any  part  of  the  Sabbath,  and  the  rather, 
because  some  have  of  late  taken  too  much  liberty  in 
that  way,  and  have  been  called  to  answer  for  it  in 
the  particular  court.  The  court,  considering  that 
it  is  their  duty  to  do  the  best  they  can  that  the  law 
of  God  may  be  strictly  observed,  did  therefore  order 
that.  Whosoever  shall,  within  this  plantation,  break 
the  Sabbath  by  doing  any  of  their  ordinary  outward 
occasions,  from  sunset  to  sunset,  either  upon  the 
land  or  upon  the  water,  extraordinary  cases,  works 


366  SABBATH     AND    SUNDAY. 

of  mercy  and  necessity  being  excepted,  he  shall  be 
counted  an  offender,  and  shall  suffer  such  punish- 
ment as  the  particular  court  shall  judge  meet,  ac- 
cording to  the  nature  of  his  offense."  * 

The  "New  Haven  Code."  published  for  the  use  of 
the  colony  in  1656,  embraces  all  the  general  laws 
which  were  enacted  previous  to  the  union  between 
New  Haven  and  Connecticut  colonies.  This  code 
contains  the  following,  relative  to  attendance  on  pub- 
lic worship : 

' '  And  it  is  further  ordered  that  wheresoever  the 
ministry  of  the  Word  is  established  within  this  juris- 
diction, according  to  the  order  of  the  gospel,  every 
person,  according  to  the  mind  of  God,  shall  duly  re- 
sort and  attend  thereunto,  upon  the  Lord's-day,  at 
least,  and  also  upon  days  of  public  fasting  or  thanks- 
giving ordered  to  be  gen»  rally  kept  and  observed. 
And  if  any  person  within  this  jursidictiou  shall 
without  just  and  necessary  cause,  absent  or  withdraw 
from  the  same,  he  shall,  after  due  means  of  convic- 
tion used,  for  everj^  such  sinful  miscarriage,  forfeit 
five  shillings  to  the  plantation,  to  be  levied  as  other 
fines."  f 

The  following  statute  on  the  "Profanation  of  the 
Lord's-day,"  is  worthy  of  careful  notice  : 

"Whosoever  shall  profane  the  Lord's-day  or  any 
part  of  it,  either  by  sinful  sevile  work,  or  by  unlawfm 
sport,  recreation,  or  otherwise,  whether  willfully  or 
In  a  careless  neglect,  shall  be  duly  punished  by  fine, 
imprisonment,  or  corporally,  according  to  the  nature 
and  measure  sin  and  of  the  offense.  But  if  the  court 
upon  examination,  by  clear  and  satisfying  evidence, 

*  New  Haveu  Colony  and  Plantation  Records,  from  1638  to 
1649,  p.  358. 
■    •"  l-NewHavenCol.  R€c.,p.  588. 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  36? 

find  that  the  sin  was  proudly,  presumptuously,  and 
with  a  high  hand,  committed  against  the  known 
command  and  authority  of  the  blessed  God,  such  a 
person  therein  despising  and  reproaching  the  Lord, 
shall  be  put  to  death,  that  all  others  may  fear  and 
shun  such  provoking,  rebellious  courses.  Numb.  15, 
from  30  to  36  verse."  * 

In  1665,  the  colony  of  New  Haven  was  united 
with  that  of  Connecticut  under  the  latter  name.  Its 
history  will  therefore  be  traced  under  that  head  from 
this  point  forward. 

THE  COLONY   OF   CONNECTICUT. 

Here,  again,  there  were  at  first  no  special  statutes 
relative  to  Sunday.  In  1650,  a  general  code  of  laws 
was  established  in  which  is  the  following  proviso,  as 
a  part  of  the  law  against  burglary : 

"  And  if  any  person  shall  commit  [such  burglary, 
or]  rob,  in  the  fields  or  houses  on  the  Lord's-day,  be- 
sides the  former  punishments,  he  shall,  for  the  first 
offense,  have  one  of  his  ears  cut  off  ;  and  for  the 
second  offense  in  the  same  kind,  he  shall  lose  his 
other  ear  in  the  same  manner,  and  if  he  fall  into  the 
same  offense  the  third  time,  he  shall  be  put  to 
death." f 

At  a  general  court,  held  Sept.  8th,  1653,  the  fol- 
lowing was  enacted  relative  to  maratime  matters  : 

''Whereas,  it  is  observed  that  many  seamen  divers 
times  weigh  anchors  in  the  harbors  of  several  plant- 
ations within  these  liberties,  atid  pass  out  on  the 
Lord's-day.  to  the  grief  and  offense  of  the  beholders, 

*  New  Haven  Colonial  Records,  p.  605. 
t  Public  Records  of  the  Colony  of  Connecticut,  prior  to 
1665,  p.  5l4. 


368  SABBATH     AND    SUNDAY. 

for  the  preventing  whereof  it  is  ordered :  That  after 
the  publishing  this  order,  no  vessel  shall  depart  out 
of  any  harbor  within  this  jurisdiction,  but  the  mas- 
ter of  the  boat  or  vessel  shall  first  give  notice  of  the 
occasion  of  his  remove  to  the  head  officer  of  the 
town  next  the  said  harbor  where  they  so  anchor,  and 
obtain  license,  under  the  hand  of  the  said  oflScer, 
for  his  liberty  therein.  Otherwise  they  shall  undergo 
the  censure  of  the  court."  * 

The  law  relative  to  the  attendance  on  public  wor- 
ship is  the  same,  in  essence,  as  those  already  noticed. 
It  is  as  follows  : 

"It  is  ordered  and  decreed  by  this  court  and  au- 
thority thereof,  that  wheresoever  the  ministry  of  the 
Word  is  established  according  to  the  gospel,  through- 
out this  jurisdiction,  every  person  shall  duly  resort 
and  attend  thereunto,  respectively  upon  the  Lord's-day 
and  upon  such  public  fast  days  and  days  of  thanks- 
giving as  are  to  be  generally  kept  by  the  appointment 
of  authority.  And  if  any  person  within  this  jurisdic- 
tion shall,  without  just  and  necessary  cause,  with- 
draw himself  from  hearing  the  ministry  of  the  Word, 
after  due  means  of  conviction  used,  he  shall  forfeit 
for  his  absence  from  every  such  public  meeting  five 
shillings,  all  such  offenses  to  be  heard  and  determined 
by  any  one  magistrate  or  more,  from  time  to  time."f 

Two  years  after  the  union  of  the  colonies  of  New 
Haven  and  Connecticut  under  one  government,  a  law 
was  passed  forbidding  Indians  to  profane  the  Sun- 
day, on  penalty  of  five  shillings  fine,  or  one  hour  in 
the  stocks. 

On  the  19th  of  May,  1668,  a  general  law  was 
enacted  as  follows  : 

*  Colonial  Records  of  Conn,  prior  to  1665,  p.  247. 
+  Ib.,p.  524. 


SABBATH     AXD    SUNDAY.  369 

"Whereas,  the  sauctitication  of  the  Sabbath  is  a 
matter  of  great  concernment  to  the  weal  of  a  people,- 
and  the  profanation  thereof  is  that  as  pulls  down  the 
judgments  of  God  upon  that  place  or  people  that 
suffer  the  same :  It  is  therefore  ordered  by  this 
court  and  the  authority  thereof,  that  if  any  person 
shall  profane  the  Sabbath,  by  unnecessary  travel,  or 
playing  thereon  in  the  time  of  public  worship,  or 
before,  or  after,  or  shall  keep  out  of  the  meetin.u- 
house  during  the  public  worship  unnecessarily,  there 
being  convenient  room  in  the  house,  he  shall  pay 
tive  shillings  for  every  such  offense,  or  sit  in  the 
stocks  one  hour  ;  any  one  assistant  or  commissioner 
to  hear  and  determine  any  such  case.  And  the  con 
stables  in  the  several  plantations  are  hereby  required 
to  make  search  after  all  offenders  against  this  law^, 
and  make  return  thereof  to  the  commissioners  or  as- 
sistants." 

In  1676,  the  above  was  strengthed  bj'  the  follow- 
ing : 

"  Whereas,  notwithstanding  former  provisions 
made  for  the  due  sanctification  (jf  the  Sa])bath,  it  is 
observed  that  by  sundry  abuses  the  Sabbath  is  pro- 
faned, the  ordinances  rendered  unprofitable,  which 
threatens  the  rooting  out  of  the  power  of  godliness, 
and  the  procuring  of  the  wrath  and  judgments  of 
God  upon  us  and  our  posterity  ;  for  prevention 
whereof  it  is  ordered  by  this  court  that  if  any  per- 
son or  persons  henceforth,  either  on  the  Saturday 
night  or  on  the  Lords-day  night,  though  it  be  after 
the  sun  is  set,  shall  be  found  sporting  in  the  streets 
or  fields  of  any  town  in  this  jurisdiction,  or  be  drink- 
ing in  houses  of  public  entertainment  or  elsewhere,  un- 
less for  necessity,  every  such  person  so  found,  com- 
plained of,  and  proved  transgressing,  shall  pay  ten  shil- 
lings for  every  such  transgression,  or  suffer  corporal 
punishment  for  default  of  due  payment.  Nor  shall  any 
sell  or  draw^  any  sort  of  strong  drink  at  an}^  time,  or 

(24) 


370  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

to  be  used  in  any  such  manner,  upon  the  like  penalty 
for  every  default. 

"  It  is  also  further  ordered  that  no  servile  work 
shall  be  done  on  the  Sabbath,  viz. ,  such  as  are  not 
works  of  piety,  charity,  or  necessity  ;  and  no  profane 
discourse  or  talk,  rude  or  unreverent  behavior  shall 
be  used  on  that  holy  day,  upon  the  penalty  of  ten 
shillings  tine  for  every  transgression  hereof,  and  in 
case  the  offense  be  circumstanced  with  high-handed 
presumption  as  well  [as]  profaneness,  the  penalty  to 
be  augmented  at  the  discretion  of  the  judges."  * 

Under  date  of  May,  1684,  is  found  an  act  referring 
to  the  foregoing  laws  and  their  enforcement  in  the 
following  words  : 

"Whereas,  this  court,  in  the  calamitous  time  of 
New  England's  distress  by  the  war  with  the  Indians 
in  the  years  seventy-five  and  seventy-six,  were 
moved  to  make  some  laws  for  the  suppression  of 
some  provoking  evils  which  were  feared  to  be  grow- 
ing up  among  us,  as  viz. ,  profanation  of  the  Sabbath, 
neglect  of  catechising  of  children  and  servants,  and 
family  prayer,  .  .  .  which  laws  (for  want  of  due 
prosecution  of  offenders  that  are  guilty  of  the  breach 
of  them)  have  little  tended  to  the  suppressing  of  the 
growth  of  said  evils  amongst  us,  and  have  not  ans- 
wered that  expectation  of  reformation  which  this  court 
aimed  at ;  it  is  therefore  ordered  by  this  court,  that 
the  selectmen,  constables,  and  grand  jurymen  in  the 
several  plantations  shall  have  a  special  care  in  their 
respective  places  to  promote  the  due  and  full  attend- 
ance of  those  forementioued  orders  of  this  court,  by 
the  several  inhabitants  of  their  respective  towns. 
And  the  selectmen,  constables,  and  grand  jurymen 
shall,  at  least  once  a  month,  make  presentment  of  all 
breaches  of  such  laws  as  are  come  to  their  knowl- 

*  Col.  Rec.  Conn,  from  1665  to  1677,  pp.  88,  280. 


SABBATH     AND    SUNDAY.  371 

edge,  to  the  next  assistant   or  commissioner  under 
their  hands." 

Any  failure  on  the  part  of  these  officers  to  perform 
the  above  mentioned  duties  was  made  finable  to  the 
amount  of  ten  shillings  for  every  neglect.  Two  years 
later  this  act  was  renewed  in  nearly  the  same  words.* 
Thus  did  Saljbath  desecration,  so  called,  increase  in 
spite  of  these  stringent  laws,  guarded  by  severe  and 
often-executed  penalties. 

Soon  after  this  came  the  interruption  of  the  gov- 
ernment by  Andros,  which  lasted  between  one  and 
two  years.  When  the  government  was  restored,  the 
general  court  declared  all  laws  to  be  binding  which 
were  in  force  before  the  interruption.  After  this 
restoration  of  the  colonial  government  in  1689, 
little  appears  concerning  the  Sunda}'  laws  for  several 
years.  In  1715,  an  especial  act  was  passed  concern- 
ing the  movements  of  vessels  in  the  harbors,  and  a 
general  one  requiring  the  officers  to  execute  the  ex- 
isting law  against  vice  and  immorality,  among 
which  the  Sunday  laws  are  mentioned.  The  power 
of  these  officers  to  search  after  delinquents  was  also 
increased,  f  In  1731,  additional  laws  were  passed 
under  the  following  preamble  : 

"Whereas,  notwithstanding  the  liberty  by  law 
granted  to  all  persons  to  worship  God  in  such  places 
as  they  shall  for  that  end  provide,  and  in  such 
manner  «.s  they  shall  judge  to  be  most  agreeable  to 
the  Word  of  God;  and  notwithstanding  the  laws 

*  Colonial   Records  of  Conn,  from  1678  to  1689,  pp.  148,  203. 
t  Acts  and  Laws  of  Conn.,  folio  edition,  pp.  206—308,  New 
London,  1715  and  1737, 


37'Z  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

alread}^  provided  for  the  saiictifi cation  of  the  Lord"s- 
day,  or  the  Christian  Sabbath,  many  disorderly  per- 
sons in  abuse  of  that  liberty,  and  regardless  of  those 
laws,  neglect  the  public  worship  of  God  on  the  said 
day,  and  profane  the  same  by  their  rude  and  unlaw- 
ful behavior;  therefore,'  etc. 
By  this  law, 

1.  Non-attendance  on  lawful  public  worship  was 
subjected  to  a  fine  of  five  shillings. 

2.  The  same  penalty  was  incurred  by  going  forth 
from  one's  place  of  abode  for  any  reason  except  to 
attend  worship  or  perform  w(u*ks  of  necessity. 

3.  A  fine  of  twenty  shillings  was  imposed  for  as- 
sembling in  any  meeting-house  on  Sunday  without 
the  consent  of  the  congregation  to  whom  it  belonged 
and  the  minister  who  usually  oflSciated  in  it. 

4.  Disturbing  any  meeting  for  public  worship  on 
Sunday  was  made  punishable  by  a  fine  of  forty 
shillings. 

5.  Failure  to  pay  or  secure  a  fine  imposed  for  any 
of  these  offenses,  within  one  week  was  punished  by 
labor  in  the  houses  of  correction  for  one  month  or 

less. 

6.  No  appeal  from  a  justice's  court   was  allowed. 

7.  All  charges  were  to  be  preferred  within  one 
luonth  from  the  time  of  the  offense.  * 

Other  supplementary  acts  were  also  passed,  relat- 
ing mainly  to  the  duties  of  the  civil  authories  in  ex- 
ecuting these  laws.  In  1726,  all  assistant  justices 
of  the  peace  were  empowered,  on  their  own  "plain 
view  or  personal  knowledge  "  of  profanity,  drunk- 

*  Acts  and  Laws  of  Conn.,  folio,  pp.  261,  262.  New  London, 
1715-1737. 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  oTo 

euiiess,  or  Sabbath- breaking,  to  make  out  a  judg- 
ment accordingly  against  the  offender,  ' '  any  law  or 
custom  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding.'* 

In  1733,  a  more  extensive  code  was  established,  of 
which  the  following  is  an  outline  : 

1 .  Non-attendance  on  public  worship  for  a  speci- 
fied time,  was  punished  by  a  fine  of  three  shillings. 

2.  Ten  shillings  was  made  the  penalty  for  as- 
sembling in  a  meeting-house  without  the  consent  of 
the  congregation  and  minister  for  whom  it  was  pro- 
vided. No  persons  were  allowed  to  neglect  public 
worship  and  meet  in  pnvate  houses,  on  penalty  of 
ten  shillings. 

8.  All  work  or  play,  on  land  or  water,  on  Sun- 
days, fast,  or  thanksgiving  days,  was  prohibited 
under  a  fine  of  ten  shillings. 

4.  Disturbing  public  worship  by  rude  or  clamorous 
beliavior,  in  or  within^ hearing  of  the  assembly,  was 
fined  forty  shillings. 

5.  All  traveling,  except  in  great  extremity,  was 
forbidden  on  pain  of  twenty  shillings  fine,  and  all 
al)sence  from  one's  house,  except  for  church  attend 
a  nee  or  "necessity,"  incurred  a  fine  of  five  shillings. 

(3.  Staying  outside  at  the  meeting-house  (there  being 
room  inside),  or  going  out  unnecessarily  during  ser- 
vice, or  playing  or  talking  around  places  of  worship, 
was  finable  in  the  sum  of  three  shillings.  Gathering 
in  companies  in  streets,  or  elsewhere,  on  the  evening 
before  or  the  evening  after  the  Sunday,  or  on  the 
ev  ening  after  any  fast  day.  was  liable  to  a  penalty  of 

■*Ib.,  p.  319. 


374  SABBATH    AND    SUKDAY. 

three  shillings,  or  two  hours  in  the  stocks,  religious 
gatherings  excepted. 

7.  Loitering  or  drinking  in  or  about  any  public 
place  after  sunset  on  Seventh-day  night,  subjected 
both  the  offender  and  the  keeper  of  the  place  to  a 
fine  of  five  shillings. 

8.  No  vessel  was  allowed  to  put  to  sea  from  any 
harbor,  river  or  creek  within  the  colonial  limits, 
without  license,  granted  only  in  extreme  emergency, 
nor  to  weigh  anchor  within  two  miles  of  any  place 
of  meeting,  unless  to  get  nearer  to  that  place,  under 
forfeiture  of  thirty  shillings. 

9.  Posting  notices  or  publishing  tliem  in  any  way 
was  declared  illegal,  and  the  proper  officers  were  in- 
structed to  destroy  all  such  as  should  be  put  up,  and 
the  one  putting  up  the  same  was  subjected  to  a  fine 
of  five  shillings. 

10.  Two  "  tything  men"  were  ordered  to  be  ap- 
pointed for  every  parish,  these  were  empowered  and 
instructed,  after  the  usual  manner,  to  execute^  these 
provisions.  Whipping,  twenty  stripes  or  less,  was 
the  penalty  for  non-payment  of  a  fine.  * 

In  1761,  in  spite  or  all  that  had  been  done,  travel- 
ing is  declared  to  be  a  "growing  evil,"'  and  all  as- 
sistant justices  of  the  peace  are  empowered  to  arrest, 
without  a  written  warrant,  any  person  traveling  un- 
necessarily, and  every  sheriff,  constable,  grand  jury- 
man and  tything  man  was  empowered  to  take  such 
persons  into  custody,  ' '  upon  sight,  or  present  inf  orm- 

*  Acts  and  Laws  of  Conn.,  17.50  to  1772,  pp.  139—14-^. 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  375 

ation  of  others.  Refusal  to  aid  in  any  such  arrest, 
when  called  upon,  incurred  the  usual  penalties.  * 

In  1770,  an  act  was  passed  allowing  all  sober  per- 
sons who  conscientiously  differed  from  the  estab- 
lished worship  and  ministry  of  the  colony,  to 
meet  together  for  worship  without  incurring  the 
penalties  provided  for  in  the  preceding  laws  against 
such  meetings,  and  against  absence  from  the  recog- 
nized services,  f 

Between  the  time  when  the  cohjnial  government 
(•eased,  and  the  opening  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
there  were  several  partial  or  complete  revisions  of 
the  laws  of  Connecticut,  but  no  material  change  was 
made  in  the  form  or  spirit  of  the  Sunday  laws.  In 
1808,  the  entire  code  was  revised.  In  this  revision, 
the  only  noteworthy  change  consisted  in  a  reduction 
of  some  of  the  fines  imposed  for  Sunday-breaking.  | 

The  history  of  the  Sunday  laws  in  Connecticut 
thus  far  traced,  shows  the  same  results  as  in  Massa- 
chusetts, namely,  a  steady  increase  of  '•  Sabbath 
desecration,"  so  called,  while  the  civil  authorities 
were  putting  forth  all  their  power  to  check  it.  It 
is  a  signficant  fact,  full  of  instruction.  It  shows  that 
such  legislation  defeats  itself.  The  true  idea  of  the 
Sabbath  is  far  higher  tlian  any  civil  law  can  reach, 
and  more  spiritual  than  human  law  can  express.  If 
the  civil  law  be  made  thus  stringent,  it  becomes  more 
prominent  than  the   law   of   God,  and   so   becomes 

*  lb.,  p.  259. 
i  lb.,  p  351. 
tSee  Public  Statute  Laws  of  Conn..  Haitford.  1808.  pp. 
577—581. 


376  SABBATH    AND  SUXDAi. 

practically  the  stHudard  of  action.  Such  a  standard 
has  no  moral  power  over  the  conscience  and  soon 
loses  its  force.  The  Sal)bath,  or  the  day  called  such, 
becomes  a  civil  institution  merely,  and.  thus  per- 
verted, loses  its  power,  ceases  to  draw  men  towards 
(>od,  and  becomes  a  failure.  Added  to  this  was  the 
uuscriptural  theory  by  which  the  Sabbath  law  of  the 
Fourth  Commandment  was  applied  to  the  Sunday, 
which  of  itself  must  work  ruin.  Hence  it  is  that 
the  "New  England  Sunday,"  with  everj'-thing  ap- 
parently in  its  favor  in  the  beginning,  has  steadily 
sunk  towards  the  low-ground  "European  Sab- 
bath." 

KHODE    ISLAND    COLONY    LAW^S. 

TIk*  land  of  Roger  Williams  must  of  necessity 
have  produced  Sunday  laws  different  from  those  of 
the  other  New  England  colonies.  What  these  laws 
were  will  be  clearly  seen  by  the  following  extracts. 
The  General  Assembly,  sitting  at  Newport,  on  the 
second  day  of  September,  167H,  enacted  as  follows  : 

"Voted,  this  assembly  considering  that  the  King- 
hath  granted  us  that  not  any  in  the  colony  are  to  be 
molested  in  the  liberty  of  their  consciences,  who  are  not 
distiu'bers  of  the  civil  peace,  and  we  are  persuaded 
that  a  most  nourishing  civil  government,  with 
loyalty,  may  be  best  propagated  where  liberty 
of  conscience  by  any  corporal  power  is  not  ob- 
structed, that  is  not  to  any  imchasteness  of  body,  and 
not  1)y  a  body  doing  any  hurt  to  a  bodj^  neither  en- 
<leavoring  so  to  do,  and  although  Ave  know  by  man 
not  any  can  be  forced  to  worship  God,  or  for  to  keep 
holy  or  not  to  keep  holy  any  day  ;  but  forasmuch  as 
tlie  first  days  of  the  weeks  it  is  usual  for  parents  and 


SABBATH    AN  J)     SUNDAY.  37? 

masters  ni^t  to  employ  their  children  or  servants,  jis 
upon  other  days,  and  some  others  also  that  are  not 
under  such  government,  accounting  it  as  spare  time, 
and  so  spend  it  in  debaistness  (debauchery)  or  tip- 
pling, and  imlawful  games,  and  wantonness,  and 
most  abominably  there  practiced  by  those  that  live 
with  the  English,  at  such  times  to  resort  to  towns. 
Therefore,  this  Assembly,  not  to  oppose  or  propagate 
any  worship,  but  as  by  preventing  'debaistness,'  al- 
though we  know  masters  or  parents  can  not,  and  are 
not,  by  violence  to  endeavor  to  force  any  under  their 
government,  to  any  worship  or  from  any  worshi}). 
that  is  not  debasing,  or  disturbing  to  the  civil  peace, 
but  they  are  to  require  them,  and  if  that  will  not 
prevail,  if  they  can,  they  should  compel  them  not  to 
do  what  is  debasing,  or  imcivil,  or  inhuman,  not  to 
frequent  anj-  immodest  companj"  or  practices. 

"  Therefore,  by  his  Majesty's  authority  it  is  enact- 
ed, that  on  the  first  days  of  the  weeks,  whoever  he 
be  that  doth  let  an}-  have  any  drink,  that  he  or  any 
other  is  drunk  thereby,  besides  all  other  forfeitures 
for  every  one  so  drunk,  they  shall  forfeit  six  shillings, 
and  for  every  one  that  entertains  in  gaming  or  tippling 
upon  the  tirst  day  of  the  week,  he  shall  forfeit  six 
shillings.  And  by  his  Majesty's  authority,  thereby 
it  is  enacted,  that  for  to  prevent  any  such  misde- 
meanors, if  any  are  so  guilty,  to  discover  them,  thai 
every  first  day  of  the  week,  in  every  town  in  this 
colony  there  shall  be  a  constable's  watch,  for  every 
inhabitant  fit  to  watch,  to  take  his  turn,  that  b<'- 
longeth  to  the  town,  or  pay  for  hiring  one,  so  for  one 
or  more  to  watch  in  a  day  as  the  Town  Coimcil 
judge  necessary  to  restrain  any  'debaistness,'  or  im- 
modesty, or  concoiu'se  of  people,  tippling  or  gaming, 
or  wantonness,  that  all  modest  assemblies  may  not 
be  interrupted  ;  especially  all  such  that  profess  to 
meet  for  the  worship  of  God  ;  if  some  of  them  will 
be  most  false  worshipers,  they  should  only  be  strove 
against,  therefore,  with  spiritual  weaix)ns,  if  they  do 


378  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

uot  disown  that  they  should  not  be  condemned,  who- 
ever they  be,  that  be  unchaste  with  their  bodies,  or 
with  their  bodies  oppress  or  do  violence  to  what  is 
mortal  of  any  man,  but,  as  they  should  be  subject  to 
such,  to  suffer  for  such  transgressions,  parents  may 
thereof  correct  their  children  and  masters  their 
servants  ;  and  magistrntes  sliould  be  a  terror  to  such 
evil  doers,  * 

At  a  general  assembly  held  at  Newport,  May  Ttlu 
1679,  the  following  action  was  taken  : 

"  Voted,  whereas  there  hath  complaint  been  made 
that  sundry  persons  being  evil-minded,  have  pre- 
sumed to  employ  in  servile  labor,  more  than  neces- 
sity requireth.  their  servants  and  also  hire  other 
men's  servants  and  sell  them  to  labor  on  the  first  day 
of  the  week :  for  the  prevention  whereof ,  be  it 
enacted,  by  this  assembly  and  the  authority  thereof, 
that  if  any  person  or  persons  shall  employ  his  ser- 
vants, or  hire  and  employ  any  other  man's  servant 
or  servants  and  set  them  to  labor,  as  aforesaid,  the 
person  or  persons  so  offending  shall,  upon  proof 
thereof  made,  pay  for  every  offense  by  him  or  them 
committexl,  five  shillings  in  money,  to  the  use  of 
the  poor  of  the  town  or  place  in  which  the  offenses 
are  committed ;  which  said  live  shillings,  if  the 
person  offending  refuse,  upon  conviction  before 
one  magistrate,  to  \>n,y,  a  warrant  under  the  hand 
of  one  magistrate,  directed  to  the  sergeant  of  the 
town  where  the  offense  was  committed,  shall  be 
his  suflScient  warrant  to  take  by  distraint  so  much  of 
the  estate  of  the  offending  party,  together  with  two 
shillings  for  his  service  therein.* 

' '  And  be  it  further  enacted  by  the  authority  afore- 
said, that  if  any  person  or  persons  shall  presume  to 
sport,  game,  or  play  at  any  manner  of  game  or 
games,  or  shooting,  on  the  first  day  of  the  week,  as 

*  H.  I.  Colonial  Records,  Vol.  2,  pp.  503,  .504. 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  379 

aforesaid,  or  shall  sit  tippling  and  drinking  in  any 
tavern,  ale  house,  ordinary,  victualing  house  on  the 
first  day  of  the  week,  more  than  necessity  require th. 
and  upon  examination  of  the  fact  it  shall  be  judged 
by  one  justice  of  the  peace,  the  person  offending,  as 
aforesaid,  upon  conviction  before  one  justice  of  the 
peace,  shall,  by  the  said  justice  of  the  peace,  be  sen- 
tenced for  every  of  the  aforesaid  offenses  to  sit  in 
the  stocks  three  hours,  or  pay  five  shillings  in  money, 
for  the  use  of  the  town  or  place  where  the  offense 
was  committed."  * 

Various  modification  or  simple  re-enactments  of 
the  Rhode  Island  Sunday  laws  were  made  in  1750 
and  1784.  In  1798,  the  laws  of  the  State  were  re- 
vised. The  main  features  of  the  Sunday  laws  were 
not  changed.  All  work  or  play  was  prohibited  on 
penalty  of  one  dollar  for  the  first  offense,  and  two 
dollars  for  the  second.  In  default  of  payment,  the 
offender  was  to  suffer  ten  days'  imprisonment,  in  the 
(bounty  jail .  The  same  penalty  was  imposed  for  em- 
ploying others.  All  complaints  to  be  made  within 
ten  daj^s  after  the  offense.  An  appeal  was  allowed. 
Otherwise  the  law  of  1798  was  identical  with  the 
present  law.-f 

JJEW   YORK. 

There  was  no  representative  government  in  what 
is  now  the  State  of  New  York,  until  nearly  a  cen- 
tury after  the  first  settlements  were  made  within  its 
limits.  The  records  of  the  first  half  century  of  the 
existence  of  the  colony  of  New  Netherlands,  as  it 

*  lb.,  Vol.  3,  p.  31. 
t  Public  Laws  of  Khode  Island  and  Providence  Plantations , 
Providence,  1798,  pp.  .577  to  .579. 


380  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

was  called,  are  very  meager.  The  goverumeut  was 
administered  by  officers  appointed  in  Holland.  The 
religious  views  of  the  Hollanders  made  it  impossible 
that  such  an  observance  of  Sunday  should  obtain  in 
New  Netlierlands  as  was  common  in  New  England. 

In  1647,  Peter  Stuyvesant  was  made  "Dictator" 
of  the  colony.  x\ccording  to  the  statements  of  Mr. 
Broadhead*  the  social,  civil,  and  religious  affairs  of 
the  colony  were  in  a  sad  state  of  decline.  The  pre- 
ceding administration  of  Kieft  had  been  ruinous  in 
many  respects.  On  the  arrival  of  Stuyvesant,  says 
Mr.  Broadhead, 

"Proclamations  were  immediately  issued  with  a 
zeal  and  rapidity  which  promised  to  make  a  "  thorough 
reformation. '  '  Sabbath  -  bre.'iking,  brawling  and 
drunkenness  were  forbidden.  Publicans  were  re- 
strained from  selling  liquors,  except  to  travelers,  be- 
fore two  o'clock  on  Sundays,  '  when  there  is  no 
preaching,'  and  after  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening." 

Stuyvesant  w.is  a  member  of  the  Reformed  church 
at  home,  and  was  probably  more  strict  than  the  most 
of  his  countrymen.  In  1673,  each  town  was  em- 
powered to  make  laws  against  Sabbath-breaking  and 
other  immoralities,  f  The  administration  of  Stuy 
vesant  was  the  beginning  of  efforts  at  Sunday  leg- 
islation. 

In  1691,  a  representative  government  was  estab- 
lished under  the  English  crown.  In  1695,  Oct.  23d, 
the  first  Sunday  law  was  passed  by  that  government. 

*  History  of  New  Netherlands,  first  period,  p.  466 
+  Documents  relating  to  the  colonial  History  of  New  York 
Yol.  -2.  p.  621. 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  :]81 

It  was  prefaced  by  the  following  preamble,  wliich 
gives  an  idea  of  the  state  of  the  country  at  that  time: 

' '  Whereas,  the  true  and  sincere  worship  of  God 
according  to  his  holy  will  and  commandments,  is  often 
profaned  and  neglected  by  many  of  the  inhabitants 
and  sojourners  in  this  province,  who  do  not  keep 
lioly  tiie  Lord's-day,  but  in  a  dis(jrderly  manner 
accustom  themselves  to  travel,  laboring,  working, 
shooting,  fishing,  sporting,  playing,  horse-racing, 
frequenting  of  tippling  houses  and  the  using  many 
other  unlawful  exercises  and  pastimes,  upon  the 
Lord's-day,  to  the  great  scandal  of  the  holy  Chris- 
tian faith,  be  it  enacted,"  etc. 

These  are  the  provisions  of  the  law  : 

1.  Six  shillings  tine  for  any  of  the  a])ove  named 
crimes,  or  any  manner  of  work  or  play. 

2.  Any  justice  of  the  peace  might  convict  offend- 
ers, on  "  his  own  sight,"  "on  their  confession,"  or 
on  the  testimony  of  "  one  or  more  witnesses;"  tines 
were  to  be  (.'oUected  by  distraint,  if  necessary.  In 
default  of  payment,  the  offender  was  to  sit  for  tliree 
liours  in  the  "stocks."  If  any  master  refused  to  pay 
the  tine  imposed  upon  a  negro  oi-  Indian  slave  or 
servant,  said  slave  or  servant  was  to  be  whipped 
"thirteen  lashes."  All  complaint  against  oflfenders 
were  to  be  made  within  one  month. 

3.  It  was  lawful  to  travel  any  distance  under 
twenty  miles,  for  the  purpose  of  attending  public 
worship.  It  was  also  lawful  to  "  go  for  a  physician 
or  nurse."  These  exemptions  were  not  good  in  favor 
of  unchristianized  Indians .  * 

*  Laws  of  New  York  from  1691  to  1773.  large  folio  edition, 
Vol.  1,  pp,  23.  24.  New  York,  1774. 


382  SAKHATH    ANM)   SUNDAY. 

No  other  law  couccrnlng  Sunday  observance  ap- 
pears until  after  the  establislunent  of  the  State  gov- 
ernment. In  1778,  Fel).  2M.  the  following-  was 
passed  : 

"  Be  it  (inacted  hy  the  People  of  the  State  of  New 
York,  represented  in  Senate  and  Assembly,  and  it  is 
liereby  enacted  by  the  authority  of  the  same,  That 
there  shall  be  no  traveling,  servile  laboring  or  vs^ork- 
ing  (works  of  ne('essity  and  charity  (excepted), 
shooting,  fishing,  sporting,  playing,  horse-racing, 
hunting,  or  I'reqenting  of  ti])pling  iiouses,  or  any 
unlawful  exercises  or  pastimes,  by  any  person  oi' 
|)ersons,  within  this  St;ite,  on  tiie  lirst  day  of  the 
week,  commonly  cilled  Sundtiy  ,  and  that  every  per 
son  l)eing  of  the  age  of  fourteen  years  or  upwards, 
ollending  in  the  i)remises,  shall  for  every  suchofTcuse 
forfeit  and  i>ay  to  the  use  of  the  poor  of  the  city  or 
town,  where  such  olVensc  shall  be  conunltted,  the 
sum  of  six  shillings.  And  that  no  i)erson  shall  cry 
show  forth  or  expose  to  s:de  any  wares,  merchan- 
dise, fruit,  herbs,  goods  or  chattels  upon  thetirst  day 
of  the  week,  commonly  called  Sunday,  except  snniil 
meat,  and  milk,  and  lish,  before  nine  of  the  clock  in 
tlie  morning.  u])on  i)ainthat(',very  person  so  oiTending 
shall  forf(!it  the  same  goods  so  cried,  showed  forth  or 
exposed  for  sale,  to  the  u^e  of  tlu^  poor  of  the  city  or 
town  where  su(^h  olTensc  shall  be  committed,  and  if 
any  person  otTending  in  any  of  the  premises  shall  be 
thereof  convicted,  before  any  justice  of  the  peace  for 
th(!  county,  or  any  mayor,  recorder  or  alderman  of 
the  city,  wliere  the  olTeuse  shall  be  committed,  upon 
th(!  view  of  th(!  said  Justice,  mayor,  recorder  or  alder- 
man, or  confe.ssion  of  the  party  olfending,  or  prooi 
of  any  witness  or  witnesses  upon  oath,  then  the  said 
Justice,  mayor,  recorded"  or  alderman,  before  whom 
such  conviction  shall  be  had.  shall  direct  and  send  his 
warrant,  under  his  hand  and  seal,  to  some  constable  of 
the  city  or  countv  where  the  olfense  shall  have  been 


SAiUJATH    AND    SUNDAY.  388 

coinniitc'd,  commanding  him  to  seize  and  take  the 
goods  so  cried,  showed  forth  or  exposed  to  sale  as 
aforesaid,  and  to  yeW  the  same,  and  to  levy  the  said 
other  forfeitures  or  penaUies,  hy  distress  and  sale  of 
the  goods  and  chattels  of  such  offenders,  and  to  pay 
the  mone}'  arising  by  the  sale  of  such  goods,  and  the 
said  other  forfeitures  and  penalties,  to  the  overseers 
of  the  ])Oor  of  the  city  or  town,  where  the  said  of- 
fense or  off(  nses  shall  have  been  (-ommitted,  for  the 
use  of  the  poor  thcjreof,  and  in  case  no  such  distress 
can  l)e  had,  then  every  such  offender  shall ,  by  a 
w^arrant  under  the  hand  and  seal  of  the  said  justice, 
mayor,  recorder  or  alderman,  be  set  publicly  in  the 
stof'ks  by  the  space  of  two  hours. 

'  -  And  further,  that  if  any  i)erson  shall  be  found 
fishing,  sporting,  horse- racing,  hunting,  gunning,  or 
going  to  or  returning  from  any  market  or  landing, 
with  carts,  wagons,  or  sleds,  on  the  first  day  of  the 
week,  called  Sunday,  it  shall  be  lawful  for  "any  con- 
stable or  other  citizen  to  stop  every  person  so  offend- 
ing, and  to  detain  him  or  her  until  the  next  day,  and 
then  to  carry  or  convey  him  or  her  to  some  justice 
of  the  peace,  to  be  dealt  witli  according  to  law. 
Provided  always,  That  no  person  going  to  or 
coming  from  an}-  church,  or  place  of  worship, 
within  the  distance  of  twenty  miles,  or  going  to  call 
a  i)hysician*  surgeon  or  midwife,  or  carrying  a  mail 
to  or  from  any  post-oflice,  or  going  express  by  order 
of  any  public\)lficer,  shall  be  considered  as  travehng 
within  the  meaning  of  this  act." 

Section  second  makes  the  usual  exception  in  favor 
of  persons  actually  observing  the  seventh  day,  pro- 
viding they  do  not  "  disturb  other  persons  in  the  ob- 
servance of  the  first  day  of  the  week  as  holy  time." 

Section  third  prohibits  the  service  of  any  "civil 
process"  on  Sunday  "except  in  cases  of  treason, 
felony,  or  breach  of  the  peace,"  on  penalty  of  the  au- 


384  SABBATH    AIsD    SUNDAY. 

nullment  of  the  "process,  "  and  the  hability  of  the 
ofticer  for  damages  to  the  party  thus  disturbed.  * 

In  1798,  April  3d,  the  above  law  was  amended  so 
as  to  prohibit  keepers  of  public  houses  or  liquor 
stores,  of  any  sort,  from  "selling-  or  disposing"  of 
any  "strong  or  spiritous  liquors,  ale  or  porter,"  on 
Sunday,  to  any  person  or  persons,  ' '  except  lodgers 
and  travelers  tolerated  by  law,"  underpenalty  of  two 
dollars  and  fifty  cents  fine  for  each  offense. 

Persons  engaged  in  removing  their  families  or 
household  furniture  were  freed  from  the  regulations 
concerning  traveling,  when  the  removal ,  having  l)ecn 
commenc^^d  before  Sunday,  remained  incomplete.  I 

PP^iS^'SYLVAXIA. 

The  early  Sunday  laws  of  Pennsylvania  were  far 
less  strict  than  those  of  the  New  England  States.  In 
1700-1,  a  general  law  was  passed,  John  Evans  being- 
Lieutenant  Governor,  under  William  Penn,  of  which 
the  following  is  the  substance  : 

1.  All  general  servile  work  on  Siuiday,  was  pro- 
hibited on  pain  of  twenty  shillings  fine.  The  excep- 
tions under  this  provision  were  quite  numerous. 
They  allowed  the  preparing  of  food  in  public  houses, 
the  dressing  and  selling  of  meat  by  butchers  and 
fishermen  during  the  months  of  June,  July  and 
August,  the  selling  of  milk  before  nine  o'clock  in 
the  morning,  and  the  landing  of  passengers  by  water- 
men during  the  entire  day. 

*Laws  of  New  York.  Eleventh  Session,  1788,  chapter  42, 
folio  edition. 

'  Session  Laws  of  NeM'  York,  1798,  chap.  82. 


SABBATH     AND     SUNDAY.  886 

2.  No  civil  process  was  servabie  on  Sunday. 

3.  Any  person  found  '  '■  tippling  "  in  public  drink- 
ing houses  was  fined  one  shilling  and  six  pence.  Any 
dealer  who  allowed  persons  to  drink  and  lounge 
about  his  premises,  was  liable  to  pay  ten  shillings 
fine.  "  Taverns  "  were  however  allowed  to  sell  to 
regular  inmates  and  travelers  "in  moderation."* 

There  were  various  changes  and  modifications  of 
this  law,  from  time  to  time,  up  to  1786,  when  all 
former  laws  were  repealed  and  a  new  one  enacted. 
The  new  law  imposed  thirty  shillings  tine  for  work- 
ing or  sporting.  It  excepted  "boatmen,"  "water- 
men," "stage  coaches  (having  the  consent  of  a  justice 
on  extraordinary  occasions),"  the  general  work  of 
preparing  food,  and  the  "delivery  of  milk  and  other 
necessaries  of  life,"  before  nine  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing, and  after  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  Any 
offender,  in  default  of  payment  of  his  fine,  was  liable 
to  imprisonment,  f 

In  1794,  the  above  law  was  repealed,  and  its  place 
supplied  by  one  differing  only  in  a  few  particulars. 
By  it  the  general  fine  was  placed  at  four  dollars,  and 
"persons  removing  their  families  "  were  placed  upon 
the  list  of  exceptions  under  the  head  of  traveling.  % 

There  has  been  but  little,  if  any,  change  in  the 
statute  Sunday  law  of  Pennsylvania  since  1794. 
There  have  been,  however,  certain  decisions  of  the 

*  Acts  of  the  Assembly  of  the  Province  of  Pennsylvania, 
Vol.  1,  pp.  19—21,  folio  edition,  Phila.,  1762. 

tLaws  of  Pennsylvania,  Vol.  2,  chap.  297,  folio  edition 
1762. 

.   1:  lb.,  chap.  17.47,  Smo.  edition,. Phil.,  1803. 

(35) 


386  SABBATH    AND     SUNDAY. 

courts,  under  which  there  has  been  from  time  to 
thne  greater  infringement  upon  the  liberty  of  con- 
science than  in  any  other  State  since  the  days  of  Puri- 
tan illiberalism.  The  following  is  a  specimen  de- 
cision : 

"This  act  is  binding  on  Jews  and  others  who  keep 
the  seventh  day  as  their  Sabbath," 

VIRGINIA. 

The  early  laws  of  Virginia  have  some  resemblance 
to  those  of  New  England. 

Hon.  R.  W.  Thompson,  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  in 
an  address  delivered  in  Washington,  May  16,  1880, 
makes  the  following  statement  concerning  a  law 
made  before  the  organization  of  the  regular  Assem- 
bly in  1619: 

' '  The  very  first  statute  passed  by  the  Cavaliers 
of  Virginia  provided  that  he  who  did  not  attend 
church  on  Sunday,  should  pay  a  fine  of  two  pounds 
of  tobacco.  This  was  the  first  law  ever  enacted  in 
the  United  States,  and  was  passed  in  1617,  three 
years  before  the  Puritans  landed  at  Plymouth."  * 

In  1623,  a  law  was  passed  in  these  words  : 

' '  Whosoever  shall  absent  himself  from  divine  ser- 
vice any  Sunday  without  an  allowed  excuse,  shall  for- 
feit a  pound  of  tobacco  ;  and  he  that  absents  himself 
for  a  month  shall  forfeit  fifty  pounds  of  tobacco,  "f 

In  1629,  the  authorities  were  ordered  to  take  care 

that  the  above  law  was  carefully  executed,  and  to 

"see  that  the  Sabbath-day  be  not  ordinarily  profaned 

by  working  in  any  employments,  or  by  journeying 

from  place  to  place,  "t '.         

*  Sabbath  Doc.  No.  45,  p.  15,  New  York. 
t  Laws  of  Virginia,  Vol.  1,  p.  123.      t  lb.,  p.  144. 


SABBATH    AN^D    SUNDAY.  387 

In  1642,  "church  wardens"  are  bound  by  then- 
oath  of  office,  to  present  to  the  civil  authorities  all 
cases  of  "  profaning-  God's  name,  and  his  holy  Sab- 
baths. "  In  the  same  year  it  was  ' '  enacted  for  the 
better  observation  of  the  Sabbath,  that  no  person  or 
persons  shall  take  a  voyage  upon  the  same,  except  it 
be  to  church,  or  for  other  causes  of  extreme  neces- 
sity, upon  the  penalty  of  the  forfeiture  for  such  of- 
fense, of  twenty  pounds  of  tobacco,"*  In  1657-8, 
this  law  was  extended  so  as  to  prohibit  -'traveling, 
loading  of  boats,  shooting  of  game,  and  the  like," 
and  the  penalty  was  increased  to  "one  hundred 
pounds  of  tobacco,"  or  a  place  in  the  "  stocks."  The 
execution  of  any  ordinary  civil  process  is  also  for- 
bidden during  this  year,  f  In  1691,  the  penalty  was 
changed  to  "twenty  shillings,"  and  in  1696,  to 
"thirty  shillings  or  two  hundred  pounds  of  tobacco." 
In  1705,  the  specifications  of  the  law  were  increased, 
and  all  general  acts  of  profanation  by  working,  play- 
ing, drinking,  etc.,  and  also  absence  from  church  for 
one  month,  were  included  in  one  class,  the  penalty 
being  "five  shillings  or  fifty  pounds  of  tobacco." 
In  default  of  payment,  the  offender  was  subjected  to 
"ten  lashes.":}: 

In  1786,  a  more  elaborate  code  was  passed,  the 
substance  of  which  was  as  follows : 

1.  AH  ministers  properly  licensed,  and  faithful  to 
the  commonwealth,  were  exempted  from  arrest  on 

*  lb.,  pp.  240  and  261. 

t  lb',  pp.  434  and  457, 
t  lb. ,  Vol.  3,  pp.  73,  138  and  361. 


388        ,        SABBATH     AND    SUNDAY. 

any  civil  process  while  performing  public  religious 
duties. 

2.  ' '  Maliciously  disturbing  any  public  religiou.^ 
meeting,  was  made  punishable  by  fine  and  imprison- 
ment. 

3.  All  labor,  whether  performed  by  one's  self,  or 
by  one's  employes,  was  made  liable  to  a  fine  of  ten 
shillings.* 

In  1792,  the  foregoing  law  was  re-enacted  witli 
little  or  no  change.  In  1801,  a  law  was  passed  for 
bidding  any  one  to  trade  with  slaves  on  Sunday, 
without  the  consent  of  their  masters,  under  penalty 
of  ten  dollars  fine  above  the  usual  punishment  for 
' '  Sabbath-breaking. "  f 

In  1819,  certain  restrictions  were  placed  upon  the 
' '  excessive  drinking  "  on  Sunday,  or  other  days  of 
religious  worship  appointed  by  public  authority,  the 
penalty  of  the  liquor  seller  being  the  "  loss  of  his 
license,  "t 

ENFORCEMENT   OP   SUNDAY   LAWS  IN  THE  NEW    KNO- 
LAND  COLONIES 

Such  was  the  Sunday  Legislation  during  the  Col- 
onial period  and  in  the  leading  colonies  of  the  United 
States.  The  history  of  that  period  gives  ample  proof 
that  the  Sunday  Law^s  were  not  a  "dead  letter."  A 
few  examples  relative  to  their  enforcement  are  here 
given.  It  would  be  tedious  and  useless  to  note  every 
instance  in  which  these  laws  were  executed.     The 

*  lb.,  Vol.  12,  pp.  a36,  337. 
I  Acts  of  the  Assembly  of  Virginia,  Vol.  1.  pp.  276,  43*^, 
Richmond,  1803. 

1:  Revised  Code  of  1819,  p.  283. 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  3i59 

majority  of  the  cases  were,  doubtless,  disposed  of  by 
tlie  comnion  magistrates,  and  hence  do  not  appear 
upon  the  records  of  the  higher  courts.  A  few  repre- 
sentative instances  are  given. 

October  6,  1636,  John  Barnes  was  found  guilty 
of  "  Sabbath -breaking  "  by  a  jury,  and  fined  "thirty 
shillings,"  and  "made  to  .sit  in  the  stocks  one  hour." 
In  1637,  Stephen  Hopkins  was  presented  for  "suf- 
fering men  to  drink  at  his  house  upon  the  Lord's- 
day."  Two  years  later,  Web  Adey  was  arraigned 
for  working  in  liis  garden  on  Sunday.  Before  the 
year  closes  he  repeats  the  offense  and  is  "  set  in  the 
stocks"  and  "whipped  at  the  post."* 

In  1649,  John  Shaw  was  set  in  the  stocks  for  "  at- 
tending tar  pits "  on  Sunday,  and  Stephen  Bryant 
was  arrested,  and  "admonished,"  for  carrying  a 
barrel  to  the  same  pits  on  the  same  day.  The  next 
year,  1650,  Edward  Hunt  was  arrested  for  shooting 
at  deer  on  Sunday,  Gowan  White  and  Z.  Hick  called 
to  account  for  "  traveling  from  Weymouth  to  Scitu- 
ate  on  the  Lord's-day."  In  1651,  Elizabeth  Eddy  was 
arrested  for  "  wringing  and  hanging  out  clothes  on 
the  Lord's-day  in  time  of  .service."  Aurther  How- 
land,  for  not  attending  church,  and  Nathaniel  Basset 
and  Joseph  Pry  or,  for  ' '  disturbing  the  church  of 
Duxburrow,"  were  also  called  to  answer  the  d(f- 
raands  of  the  law,  f 

In  1651-2,  Abraham  Pierce,  Henry  Clarke  and 
Thurston     Clarke,  Jr..    were    arrested    for    lazily 

*  Plymouth  Colony  Records,  Vol.  1,  pp.  44, 68,  86,  93. 
; :  t  Plymouth  Colony  Records,  pp.  140,  1.56,  16.5.  173—4. 


390  SABBATH     AND     SUNDAY. 

spending  Sunday,  and  staying  away  from  public 
service.  Two  or  three  years  later,  Peter  Gaunt. 
Ralph  Allen,  Sen.  and  George  Allen  appeared  to 
answer  to  a  similar  charge,  and  William  Chase  was 
called  to  answer  for  having  driven  a  pair  of  oxen  in 
the  yoke  "about  five  miles  on  the  Lord's-day,  in 
time  of  exercise."  In  1658,  Lieutenant  James  Wyatt 
was  "  sharpely  reproved  "  for  writing  a  business  note 
on  Sunday,  "  at  least  in  the  evening  somewhat  too 
soon."  At  the  same  time,  Sarah  Kirby  was  "pub- 
licly whipped  "  for  disturbing  public  w.orship,  and 
Ralph  Jones  paid  "ten  shillings  fine"  for  stay 
ing  at  home  when  the  authorities  thought  he  had 
ought  to  have  been  at  church,  f  Similar  cases  might 
be  quoted  until  many  pages  were  filled,  in  which  the 
reader  would  see  that  not  only  ordinary  manual 
labor  on  Sunday  was  punished,  but  "whipping  of 
servants,"  playing  at  cards,"  "smoking  tobacco," 
etc.,  were  sharply  dealt  with.  Those  were  times 
when  laws  were  made  to  be  executed.  Duty  was  the 
central  idea  in  the  Puritan  system,  and  zeal  was  ever 
on  the  alert  to  perform  what  conscience  or  law  de- 
manded. The  "Blue  Laws"  which  exist  in  tradi- 
tion, though  sometimes  exaggerated,  and  facetiously 
misrepresented,  are  a  fair  index  to  the  rigid  spirit  of 
those  days.  The  compilations  of  the  "  Blue  Laws" 
by  Barber  and  Smucker  are  mainly,  if  not  entirely 
correct.  At  the  time  of  the  adoption  of  the  State 
Constitutions,  corporal  punishment  in  the  "stocks" 
and  the  "cage,"  and  at  the  "whipping  post"  was 

•t  Plymouth  Colony  Records,  Vol.  3,  pp.  5,  10.  52, 74,  111,  112.. 


SABBATH  AND  SUNDAY.      391 

becoming  obsolete.  Since  the  opening  of  the  present 
century,  the  execution  of  these  laws  has  been  less 
frequent.  The  results  of  the  test  made  during  those 
earlier  times  indicate  that  Sunday-keeping  cannot 
be  brought  about  by  civil  legislation. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 
The   Sabbath  in  America- 

The  same  Divine  Hand  which  guarded  the  Sabbath 
through  the  dark  centuries  between  the  first  great 
apostasy  and  the  Reformation,  transferred  it  from 
England  to  America,  the  last  battle-ground  whereon 
the  great  reforms  of  modern  times  have  been  and 
are  being  carried  forward.  True  Sabbath  reform 
could  not  find  a  place  among  the  masses  until  that 
second  great  error,  the  ' '  Puritan  Sunday  "  had  borne 
its  fruit,  decayed  in  weakness,  and  crumbled  from 
the  hands  of  the  Church.  This  trial  could  best  be 
made  in  America.  Jience,  guided  by  that  "divinity 
which  shapes  our  ends,"  in  1664  Stephen  Mumford 
emigrated  from  England  to  Newport,  Rhode  Island. 
He  brought  with  him  the  opinion  that  the  Ten 
Commandments  as  they  were  delivered  from  Mount 
Sinai,  where  moral  and  immutable,  and  that  it  was 
an  anti-Christian  power  which  changed  the  Sabbath 
from  the  Seventh  to  the  first  day  of  the  week."  He 
united  with  the  Baptist  Church  in  Newport,  and 
soon  gained  several  of  its  members  to  the  observance 
of  the  Sabbath.  This  led  to  much  discussion,  and 
finally  an  open  separation  took  place,  and  the  firsi 
Seventh-day  Baptist  Church  in  America  was  organ- 
ized by  these  Sabbath -keepers  in  the  month  of  De- 


SABBATH    AND     SUNDAY.  393 

<?embcr,  1671.*  "William  Hiscox  waschoseu  and 
ordained  their  pastor  which  office  he  filled  until  his 
death  in  1704.  He  was  succeeded  l)y  William  Gib- 
sou,  a  minister  from  London,  who  continued  to  labor 
among  them  until  he  died,  in  1717.  Joseph  Crandall. 
who  had  been  his  colleague  for  two  years, was  selected 
to'succeed  him  and  presided  over  the  church  until  he 
died,  in  1737.  Joseph  Maxson  and  Thomas  Hiscox 
were  evangelists  of  the  church  about  this  time,  the  for- 
mer having  been  chosen  in  1732,  he  died  in  1748.  John 
Maxson  was  cho.sen  pastor  in  1754,  and  performed  the 
duties  of  the  office  until  1778.  He  was  followed  by 
William  Bliss,  who  served  the  clnu'ch  as  pastor  until 
his  death  in  1808,  at  the  age  of  81  years.  Henry  Bur- 
dick,  succeeded  to  the  pastorate  of  the  church,  and 
occupied  that  post  until  his  death.  Besides  its  regu- 
lar pastors,  the  Newport  Church  ordained  several 
ministers,  who  labored  with  great  usefulness,  both 
at  home  and  abroad.  The  church  also  included 
among  its  early  members  several  prominent  public 
men,  one  of  whom,  Richard  Ward,  Governor  of  the 
State  of  Rhode  I.sland,  is  well  known  to  history. 

•'  For  more  than  thirty  years  after  its  organization, 
the  Newport  Church  included  nearly  all  persons  ob- 
serving the  Seventh<lay  in  Rhode  Island  and  Con- 
necticut ;  and  its  pastors  were  accustomed  to  hold 
religious  meetings  at  several  places,  for  the  better 
accommodation  of  the  widely-scattered  membership. 

*  A  full  and  interesting  account  of  the  formation  of  this 
Church  with  a  complete  account  of  the  discussions  and  final 
•separation,  may  be  found  in  Vol.  1.  of  the  Seventh-day  Bap- 
tist Memorial,  pp  22  to  4fi. 


394  8ABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

In  1708,  however,  the  brethren  living  in  what  was^ 
then  called  Westerly,  R.  I,,  comprehending  all  the. 
south-western  part  of  the  State,  thovight  best  to  form 
another  society.  Accordingly  they  proceeded  to 
organize  a  church,  now  called  the  First  Hopkinton, 
which  had  a  succession  of  worthy  pastors, became  very 
numerous,  and  built  three  meeting-houses  for  the 
accommodation  of  the  members  in  different  neigh- 
borhoods." *  In  this  last  place  Mr.  Backus  adds  the 
following  notice  in  connection  with  his  list  of  the 
pastors  of  what  he  calls  the  ' '  Third  Church  in  New  - 
port,  who  keep  the  Seventh-day.  Mr.  Ebenezer 
David,  (who  was  first  converted  in  Providence  Col- 
lege, and  took  his  first  degree  there  in  1772)  belonged 
to  this  church  ;  and  having  been  a  chaplain,  much 
esteemed,  in  our  army,  died  therein,  not  far  from 
Philadelphia,  a  few  days  after  Mr.  Maxson." 

The  agitation  concerning  the  Sabbath  which  the 
early  Seventh-day  Baptists  induced  was  not  confined 
to  Newport.  Mr.  Backus  saysf  that  the  Baptists  in 
Boston  sent  a  kind  letter  to  these  Sabbath-keepers 
before  their  separation  from  Mr.  Clarke's  Church, 
urging  them  not  to  chide,  as  "  apostates,"  certain 
ones  who  had  left  the  Sabbath,  and  not  to  separate 
themselves  from  their  church  relations  with  the 
First-day  Baptists.  In  another  place, ^:  Mr.  Backus 
gives  a  long  letter  from  Roger  Williams,  to  Mr. 
Hubbard  a  member  of  the  Newport  Seventh-day 

*  See  manual  of  the  Seventh-day  Baptists,  pp.  40,  41,  also 
Backus's  History  of  New  England,  Vol.  1,  p.  411,  and  Vol.  2. 
p.  398. 

tHist.  of  New  England,  Vol.  1.  p.  411. 
tVol.  1.  pp.  .510— 12. 


SABBATH     Ai^D    SUNDAY.  895- 

Baptist  Church,  who  had  called  Mr.  William's  at- 
tention to  the  claims  of  the  Seventh-day  as  the  only 
Sabbath.  Mr.  Williams  professes  to  have  studied 
the  subject  carefully,  but  to  be  unable  to  agree  with 
Mr.  Hubbard's  views  concerning  it.  The  following 
letter  from  a  prominent  Seventh-day  Baptist  in  Lon- 
don, which  was  written  because  of  the  persecution  of 
Sabbath-keepers  in  Connecticut  is  a  specimen  of  the 
correspondence  on  this  question  at  the  time. 

"Peter  Chamberlain  senior  doctor  of  both  Uni 
versities,  and  first  and  eldest  physician  in  ordinary 
to  his  majesty's  person,  according  to  the  world,  but 
according  to  grace,  a  servant  of  the  Word  of  God,  to 
the  excellent  and  noble  governor  of  New  England  ; 
grace,  mercy,  peace  and  truth,  from  God  our  Father, 
and  from  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;  praying  for  you 
that  you  may  abound  in  heavenly  gi-aces  and  tem- 
poral comforts.  ' 

The  letter  goes  on  to  say  that  the  first  design  of 
the  men  of  New  England  was  to  establish  a  system 
of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  a  system  to  "  suppress 
sin,  but  not  to  suppress  liberty  of  conscience."'  He 
argues,  showing  great  familiarity  with  the  Scrip- 
tures, that  "whatever  is  against  the  Ten  Command- 
ments is  sin,"  and  closes  as  follows  : 

'•  While  Moses  and  Solomon  caution  men  so  mucji 
against  adding  to  or  taking  from — Deut.  4 :  2,  Prov. 
30  ;  5,  6 — and  so  doth  the  beloved  apostle  Rev.  22 : 
18,  19,  what  shall  we  say  of  those  that  take  away 
of  those  ten  words,  or  those  that  make  them  void, 
and  teach  men  so  !  Nay,  they  dare  to  give  the  lie  to 
Jehovah,  aiidmake  Jesus  Christ  not  only  the  breaker 
of  the  law,  but  ihe  very  author  of  sin  in  others,  also 


39H  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

causing  them  to  break  them.  Hath  not  the  '  Little 
Horn'  played  his  part  lustily  in  this  and  worn  out 
the  saints  of  the  Most  High,  so  that  they  became 
'  Little  Horn '  men  also  ?  If  you  are  pleased  to  in- 
quire about  these  things  and  to  require  any  instances 
or  informations  be  pleased  by  your  letters  to  com- 
mand it  from  your  humble  servant  in  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ." 

Peter  Chamberlain. 

Mr.  Backus  also  notices  a  similar  correspondence 
between  Dr.  Chamberlain  and  one  Mr.  Olney,  about 
the  same  time.  * 

In  Felt's  Ecclesiastical  History  of  New  England, 
is  found  the  following  under  date  of  April  3, 1640 : 

"John  Cotton  writes  an  argument  to  Thomas 
Sheppard  to  prove  that  the  first  day  of  the  week, 
and  not  the  seventh,  should  be  observed  as  the 
Christian  Sabbath.  This  subject  was  much  discussed 
by  New  England  ministers  against  objectors."  f 

On  page  614  of  the  same  volume  is  a  similar  notice 
of  a  letter  from  one  Mr.  Hooker  to  Mr.  Sheppard  on 
the  same  theme.  Copies  of  a  small  book  on  the  Sab- 
bath, written  by  this  same  Thomas  Sheppard  and  pub 
lished  at  an  early  day  in  Connecticut,  are  still  extant. 
These  facts,  and  the  one  already  referred  to,  that 
many  prominent  and  learned  men,  both  in  the  colony 
«if  Rhode  Island  and  in  England  were  Seventh-day 
Baptists,  show  that  the  agitation  concerning  the 
Sabbath  was  neither  feeble  in  character,  nor  meager 
in  extent. 

.  Such  was  the  beginning  of  the  Seventh-day  Bap 

*  Ibid. 
+  Vol.  l.p.  5«3. 


SABBATH    AN])    SUNDAY.  397 

tists  in  New  England.  Those  who  wish  to  read 
more  concerning  the  foregoing  points,  are  referred 
to  the  different  works  quoted,  especially  the  Seventh- 
day  Baptist  Memorial,  f 

The  second  branch  of  the  Seventh  day  Baptist 
Church  in  America  was  also  planted  by  emigration 
from  England.  About  the  year  1684,  Abel  Noble  a 
Seventh-day  Baptist  Minister  from  London  settled 
near  Philadelphia.  The  following  extract  from  a 
late  work  by  Rev.  James  Bailey  f  gives  the  follow- 
ing : 

"Able  Noble  arrived  in  this  country  about  the 
year  1784,  and  located  near  Philadelphia.  He  was  a 
Seventh-day  Baptist  Minister  when  he  came.  About 
this  time  a  difference  arose  among  the  Quakers  in 
reference  to  the  sufficiency  of  what  every  man  has 
naturally  within  himself  for  the  purpose  of  his  own 
salvation.  This  difference  resulted  in  a  separation 
under  the  leadership  of  George  Keith.  These  seced- 
ers  were  soon  after  known  as  Keithian  Baptists. 
Through  the  labors  of  Able  Noble,  many  of  them 
embraced  the  Bible  Sabbath  and  were  organized  into 
churches  near  the  year  1700.  These  churches  were 
Newton,  Pennepeck,  Nottingham  and  French  Creek, 
and  probably,  Conogocheage."  ..."  The  churches 
of  Pennsylvania  fraternized  with  the  churches  in 
Rhode  Island  and  New  Jersey,  and  counseled  them 
in  matters  of  discipline.  Some  of  their  members  also 
united  with  these  churches.  Some  of  them,  with 
some  members  of  the  church  of  Piscataway,  and 
others  of  Cohansey,  near  Princeton,  emigrated  to  the 
Parish  of  St.  Mark,  S.  C,  and  formed  a  church  on 

tVol.  1. 
t  History  of  the  Seventh-day  Baptist  General  Conference, 
pp.  11—15. 


398  8ABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

Broad  River  in  1754.  Five  years  later, in  1759, eight 
families  removed  from  Broad  River  and  formed  a 
settlement  and  a  cliurchatTuckaseekingJn  Georgia. 
These  churches  have  long  since  become  extinct."  f 

Speaking  again  of  the  Pennsylvania  churches, 
Mr.  Bailey  says : 

"Rev.  Enoch  David  vsras,  for  several  years,  con- 
nected with  these  churches  as  their  preacher."  .  .  . 
"He  was  the  son  of  Owen  David,  who  emigrated 
from  Wales.  He  lived  some  time  in  Philadelphia, 
and  labored  as  a  tailor."  .  .  ."The  churches  com- 
ing out  from  the  Keithian  Quakers,  and  known  as 
the  Keithian  Baptists  and  Seventh-day  Baptists,  re- 
tained many  of  their  former  habits,  and  in  a  few 
years,  by  divisions  and  removals,  ceased  to  exist  as 
distinct  churches.  They  were  very  numerous  in 
their  most  prosperous  days.  There  are,  however, 
many  of  their  descendents  in  connection  with  our 
Southern  and  Western  churches." 

The .  third  branch  of  the  American  Seventh-day 
Baptists  originated  from  causes  quite  unlike  those 
which  gave  birth  to  the  two  already  mentioned. 
Edmund  Dunham  was  the  originator  of  this  move- 
.  ment.  He  was  a  member  of  the  First-day  Baptist 
Church,  in  Piscataway,  Middlesex  county,  New  Jer- 
sey. About  tlie  year  1700,  he  had  occasion  to  re- 
buke one  Mr.  Bonham  for  laboring  on  Sunday.  Mr. 
Bonham  replied  by  demanding  the  divine  authority 
for  the  observance  of  Sunday  as  the  Sabbath.  Eager 
to  answer  this  demand,  Dunham  began  to  search 
God's  Word  for  that  which  he  supposed  could  easily 

t  Traces  of  these  Sabbath-keepers  are  still  found  in  the 
South. ■ •        • 


SABBATH    AKD    SUI^^DAY.  399 

be  found.  His  iiivestigatious  led  him  to  discard  the 
Sunday  and  to  embrace  the  Bible  Sal)bath.  Others 
soon  followed  his  example,  and  in  1705  the  Piscata- 
way  Seventh-day  Baptist  Church  was  organized; 
Edmund  Dunham  was^  chosen  pastor  and  sent  to 
Rhode  Island  where  he  received  ordination.  At  his 
death,  his  son  Jonathan  Dunham  succeeded  him  in 
the  pastorate.  This  church  still  flourishes  at  New 
Market  New  Jersey  ;  and  several  other  churches  have 
been  formed  directly  and  indirectly  from  it. 

The  Seventh-day  Baptists  have  spread  from  these 
three  points,  westward  and  southward,  slowly  but 
steadily.  The  report  of  their  General  Conference  for 
1884  shows  an  aggregate  of  94  churches,  with  8,655 
members  in  the  United  States,  England,  Holland  and 
China,  The  odds  against  which  their  existence  has 
been  maintained  has  made  them  much  stronger  than 
their  numbers  indicate.  Their  existence  has  been 
perpetuated  and  their  growth  secured  under  the  con- 
viction that  God  has  commissioned  them  to  uphold 
the  doctrine  of  fealty  to  his  law,  until  the  Christian 
Church  through  its  repeated  failures  to  establish  and 
maintain  the  sacredness  of  Sunday,  either  by  the  at- 
tempted transfer  of  the  Fourth  Commandment,  or 
by  the  aid  of  the  civil  law,  shall  come  to  see  that  on 
God's  law  alone  can  either  the  idea  of  the  Sabbath 
or  the  day  of  the  Sabbath  be  maintained.  The 
struggle  for  more  than  two  hundred  years  has  de- 
manded much  of  patience  and  faith.  The  prospects 
at  the  present  (1885)  add  hope  to  their  undiminished 


400  SABBATH    AND  SUNDAY. 

patience  and  faith,  that  tlie  redemption  of  the  Sab- 
bath question  fi-om  error  is  "at  the  doors." 

Theologically,  the  Seventh-day  Baptists  have  al- 
ways been  known  as  "thoroughly  evangelical."  In 
matters  of  general  reform,  moral  and  political,  they 
have  always  been  at  the  front.  In  the  work  of 
higher  education  they  have  done  more  than  the  avei  - 
age  of  other  denominations  in  propotion  to  their  num- 
bers. Sabbath-keeping  is  not  the  product  of  sec- 
tarian bigotr}^  in  their  case,  but  the  fruitage  of  a 
settled  conviction  that  a  return  to  the  observance  of 
the  Sabbath  is  the  only  salvation  from  the  morass  of 
Sunday  holiday  ism  and  dissipation.  Time  alone 
can  test  their  faith,  and  that  test  they  patiently  await. 

THE   SEVENTH-DAY  ADVENTISTS. 

This  body  of  Sabbath-keepers  has  arisen  during 
the  past  thirty-eight  years,  and  is  particularly  dis- 
tinguished by  the  fact  that  they  are  believers  in  the 
near  advent  of  our  Lord  To  form  a  just  judgment 
of  this  people,  who  in  several  respects  differ  from 
the  Seventh-day  Baptists,  it  is  necessary  to  consider 
their  position  from  their  own  stand-point.  The  ad- 
vent movement  of  of  1843 — 4,  as  believed  and  cher- 
ished by  them,  led  directly  to  the  Sabbath  of  the 
fourth  commandment.  That  movement  was  based 
upon  three  leading  ideas  : 

1.  That  the  great  outlines  of  prophecy  in  the  books 
of  Daniel  and  Revelation,  as  the  metallic  image,  the 
great  beasts,  the  seals,  the  trumpets,  and  other  pro- 
phetic  series  indicate  the  {accomplishment  of  the  loo^- 


SABBATH     AN^D    SUNDAY.  401 

period  of  Geutile  rule,  and  the  immediate  advent  of 
Christ  and  the  judgment. 

2.  That  the  signs  of  the  times  mark  these  as  the 
days  of  expectation  of  that  event. 

3.  That  the  prophetic  periods  wliich  relate  to  the 
closing  events  of  our  dispensation,  and  especially  the 
2300  days  of  Daniel  8 :  14,  point  to  1843-4,  as  the 
the  year  of  their  termination. 

In  studying  the  subject  of  prophetic  time,  they 
took  the  ninth  chapter  of  Daniel  as  the  key  to  the 
eighth.  The  period  of  2300  days  was  therefore  held  to 
begin  with  the  seven  weeks  at  the  going  forth  of  the 
commandment  to  restore  and  build  Jerusalem,  B.  C. 
457.  Ezra  7.  Taking  457  from  2300  leaves  1843  for 
the  year  of  the  cleansing  of  the  sanctuary.  So  the 
advent  of  Christ  was  expected  that  year,  because  the 
sanctuary  was  believed  to  be  the  earth,  and  its 
cleansing  to  be  by  fire  at  the  coming  of  the  Lord. 

When  1844  had  passed  without  the  expected  ad- 
vent of  Christ,  the  entire  subject  of  the  advent  faith 
was  re-examined  and  new  questions  were  raised.  Is 
the  course  of  earthly  empire  as  marked  by  Daniel 
and  John  just  ready  to  expire  ?  This  appeared  to 
the  Adventists  an  undoubted  fact.  Is  the  millennium 
before  or  after  Christ's  advent  ?  After  that  event, 
said  they.  Have  the  signs  of  Christ's  second  coming 
imde  their  appearance  ?  So  the  Adventists  decided. 
Have  the  2300  days  been  rightly  reckoned  ?  Is  the 
earth  the  sanctuary  ?  Is  the  sanctuary  to  be  cleansed 
hy  fire  ?    Does  \\ie  Saviour  cleanse  the  sanctuary 

(26) 


402  SABBATH    AND   SUNDAY. 

when  he  comes  the  second  time,  or  does  this  take  place 
before  that  event  ? 

The  conclusion  was  arrived  at  from  this  re-exami- 
nation that  the  2300  days  were  ended,  and  that  they 
indicated,  not  the  close  of  human  probation,  but  the 
commencement  of  the  great  work  in  the  sanctuary 
which  should  bring  the  work  of  mercy  to  a  final  ter- 
mination. 

So  the  advent  movement  led  directly  to  the 
heavenly  sanctuary  ;  and  with  equal  directness  to  the 
Sabbath  of  the  fourth  commandment.  For  it  was 
seen  that  the  heavenly  tabernacle  with  its  sacred 
vessels  was  the  great  original  after  which  Moses 
copied  in  making  the  tabernacle  and  all  the  vessels 
of  the  ministry.  Ex.  25,  Heb.  9.  It  was  further 
seen  that  the  heavenly  sanctuary  had  the  same  grand 
central  object  as  the  earthly,  viz  :  the  ark  of  Grod's 
testament.  Rev.  11 :  19,  Ex.  40  :  20,  21,  Deut.  10  : 
3,  5.  The  ark  containing  the  Ten  Commandments, 
with  the  merc}^  seat  for  its  top,  was  that  over  which 
the  typical  atonement  was  made  ;  and  hence  the  real 
atonement  must  relate  to  that  law  concerning  which 
an  atonement  was  shadowed  forth.  Lev.  16  :  15. 
And  so  the  heavenly  sanctuary  contains  the  ark  after 
which  Moses  patterned  when  he  obeyed  the  mandate 
* '  see  that  thou  make  all  things  according  to  the  pat- 
tern showed  to  thee  in  the  mount,"  Heb,  8  :  5  ;  9  :  23. 
And  in  that  ark  is  the  original  of  that  law  which  the 
great  Law-giver  copied  with  his  own  finger  for  the 
ark  of  the  earthly  sanctuary.  Ex.  20  :  24,  Deut,  9  : 
10.     And  this  great  fact  clearly  indicates  that  the 


SABBATH    AND   SUNDAY.  403 

Ten  Commandments  constitute  the  moral  law  to 
which  the  atonement  relates ;  that  they  are  distinct 
from  the  law  of  types  and  shadows  ;  that  they  are  un. 
changeable  in  their  character,  and  of  perpetual  obli- 
gation ;  that  our  Lord,  as  high-priest,  ministers  before 
a  real  law  ;  that  men  in  the  gospel  dispensation 
must  obey  the  law  of  the  Ten  Commandments  ;  and  so 
the  Sabbath  of  the  fourth  commandment  was  found 
among  the  things  which  are  as  immutable  as  the 
pillars  of  heaven. 

Thus  the  study  of  the  heavenly  sanctuary  opened 
to  their  minds  the  Sabbath  and  the  law  of  God. 
And  so  the  ancient  Sabbath  of  the  Bible  became 
with  this  people  a  part  of  the  advent  faith. 

The  Sabbath  was  introduced  to  the  attention  of 
of  the  advent  people  first  at  Washington,  N.  H.,  by  a 
faithful  Seventh- day  Baptist  sister  by  the  name  of 
Preston. 

A  word  relative  to  this  woman  may  be  in  place. 
Rachel  D.  Harris  was  born  in  Vernon,  Vt,  When 
she  was  twenty-eight  years  of  age  she  became  a  be- 
liever in  the  Bible  Sabbath.  She  was  faithful  to  her 
convictions  of  duty  and  united  with  the  Seventh-day 
Baptist  Church  of  Verona,  Oneida  Co.,  N.  Y.  Her 
first  husband  bore  the  name  of  Oaks.  Her  second 
that  of  Preston.  She  and  her  daughter,  Delight 
Oaks,  were  members  of  the  Seventh-day  Baptist 
Church  of  Verona,  N.  Y. ,  at  the  time  ot  their  ws- 
moval  to  Washington,  N.  H.  These  sisters  were 
faithful  to  the  truth,  were  instrumental  in  raising  up 


404  SABBATH    AND   SUNDAY. 

the  first  churcli  of  Sabbath -keeping  Adventists,  and 
froni  this  church  the  light  shone  forth  upon  those 
who  have  been  instrumental  in  turning  thousands  to 
the.  Sabbath. 


CHAPTER    XXYII. 

JSUNDAY    IN    THE   pREEDS    OF    THE 
rHURCHES. 


P' 


It  is  truly  said  tliat ' '  men  are  often  l)etter  than  their 
creeds. "  It  is  equally  true  tliat  formulas  and  state- 
ments remain  in  the  written  symbols  of  faith  lon^ 
after  they  have  become  a  dead  letter.  The  reader 
must  be  left  to  decide  how  well  the  practice  of  the 
churches  accords  with  their  creeds  as  given  below. 
We  give,  with  little  or  no 'comment,  the  formulated 
faith  of  the  representative  denomihations  in  the 
United  States. 

THE  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  CHURCH. 

Concerning  the  "  Rule  of  Faith,"  in  general  the 
Catholic  Church  speaks  as  follows  : 

''  Q.  What  is  the  rule  of  our  faith  left  us  by  Jesu^ 
Christ?    . 

A.  The  Christian  world,  as  it  stands  at  present j 
is  divided  into  two  great  bodies  in  regard  to  this 
point.  All,  indeed,  agree  in  this,  that  the  Holy 
Scriptures,,  being  dictated  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  are 
truly  the  Word  of  God,  and  are,  therefore,  infallibly 
true  in  what  they  teach,  lK)th  as  to  what  we  are  to 
believe,  and  as  to  what  we  are  to  do  in  order  to  be 
saved.  .But,  as  the  divine  truths  contained  in  th^ni 
cannot  be  known  without  understanding  the  true 


406  SABBATH    A:SJ)    SUNDAY. 

sense  of  these  sacred  writings,  hence  the  great  ques- 
tion arises :  How  is  the  true  sense  of  the  Scriptures  to 
be  known  ?  One  of  the  two  greart.  bodies  of  Christians, 
to  wit,  the  Protestants,  affirm  that  the  true  sense  of 
the  Scriptures  may^  be  sufficiently  known  in  all  things 
necessary  to  salvation,  by  every  man  of  sound  judg- 
ment who  reads  them  with  humility  and  attention  ; 
and  therefore  they  hold,  that  the  rule  left  by  Jesus 
Christ  to  man  for  knowing  what  we  are  to  believe, 
and  what  we  are  to  do  in  order  to  be  saved,  is  the 
written  Word  alone,  as  interpreted  by  every  man  of 
sound  judgment.  The  other  great  body  of  Chris- 
tians, namely  the  Roman  Catholics,  affirm  that  the 
true  sense  of  the  Scriptures  cannot  be  sufficiently 
known  by  any  private  interpretation,  but  only  by 
the  public  authority  of  the  Church  ;  and,  therefore, 
they  hold  that  the  rule  left  us  by  Jesus  Christ,  is  the 
the  written  Word  as  interpreted  by  the  Church."  * 

The  same  writer  defines  the  commands  of  the 
Church  as  follows  : 

"  Q.  What  do  you  mean  by  the  commands  of  the 
Church  ? 

A.  The  commands  of  the  Church,  in  general, 
signify  all  those  laws,  rules  and  regulations  which 
the  pastors  of  the  Church  have  made,  for  the  per- 
fecting of  the  saints,  for  the  work  of  the  ministry, 
and  for  the  edification  of  the  body  of  Christ ;  but  what 
is  meant  in  particular  by  the  commands  or  precepts 
of  the  Church,  are  six  'general  laws,  which  are  of 
more  eminent  note  in  the  Church,  both  on  account 
of  their  antiquity  (having  been  observed,  as  to  their 
substance,  from  the  very  first  ages)  and  on  account  also 
of  their  universality,  as  obliging  every  member  of 
the  Church  whom  they  concern,  f 

*Tbe  Sincere  Christian  Instructed,  etc.,  by  Eight  Rev. 
Doctor  George  Hay,  Chap.  XI,  pp.  119, 120,  Boston  edition, 
tlbid.,  Chap.  16,  pp.  168,  169. 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  407 

Q.  What  is  the  first  command  of  the  Church  ? 

A.  To  hear  mass  on  Sundays  and  holidays,  and  to 
rest  from  servile  work.  .  .  . 

Q.  Are  these  holidays  of  God's  appointment  under 
the  old  law  binding  upon  Christians  under  the  gos 
pel? 

A.  By  no  means ;  they  were  instituted  in  memory 
of  the  particular  temporal  benefits  bestowed  on  the 
people  of  Israel,  and  w^ere  binding  on  them  alone ; 
and,  like  the  rest  of  the  exterior  of  their  religion, 
which  was  all  a  figure  of  the  good  things  to  come 
under  the  gospel,  they  were  figures  of  the  Christian 
holidays,  which  were  to  be  ordained  by  the  church 
of  Christ,  in  memory  of  the  spiritual  benefits  bestowed 
by  him  on  Christians,  and  therefore  were  fulfilled 
and  done  away  when  the  Christian  religion  was  es- 
tablished. 

Q.  By  whom  are  the  Christian  holidays  appointed? 

A.  By  the  church  of  Christ ;  which  also,  by  the 
authority  and  power  given  her  by  her  divine  Spouse, 
ordained  the  Sunday  or  first  day  of  the  week,  to  be 
kept  holy,  instead  of  Saturday,  or  the  seventh  day, 
which  was  ordained  to  be  kept  holy  among  the  Jews 
by  God  himself.  .  .  . 

Q.  In  what  manner  does  the  Church  command 
these  holidays  to  be  kept  ? 

A.  In  the  same  manner  as  the  Sundays ;  by  ab- 
staining from  all  unnecessary  servile  works,  and  em- 
ploying such  a  portion  of  the  day  in  the  exercises  of 
piety  and  devotion,  that  we  may  be  truly  said  to  keep 
the  day  holy,  and  particularly  to  assist  at  the  holy 
sacrifice  of  the  mass. 

Q.  Why  are  the  holidays  commanded  to  be  kept 
the  same  way  as  the  Sundays  ? 

A.  Because  (1)  the  intention  of  instituting  both 
Sundays  and  holidays  is  the  same.  (2)  God  com- 
manded the  holidays  of  the  old  law  to  be  kept  in  the 
same  way  as  the  Sabbath  ;  and  as  these  were  only 
figures  of  the  Simdays  and  holidays  of  the  new  law. 


408  SABBATH     AND    SUNDAY. 

if  this  was  clone  in  the  figure,  where  011I3'  temporal 
benetits  were  commemorated,  much  more  ought  it  to 
be  done  in  the  substance,  which  regards  the  great 
spiritual  benefits  of  our  redemption."* 

Such  is  the  basis  of  Sunday  observance  in  the  Ro- 
man Catholic  Church.  This  "Ecclesiastical"  theory 
is  prominent  in  all  the  reformed  churches  on  the 
continent  of  Europe,  and  underlies  all  other  theories 
of  Sunday  observance  among  Protestants.  The 
earlier  laws  of  the  Church  of  England  made  the  same 
classification,  placing  Sunday  with  the  other  holi- 
days. The  present  theory  of  that  church,  as  defined 
by  one  of  its  most  scholarly  writers  on  the  Sabbath 
question.  Dr.  Hessey,  is  a  modified  form  of  Romish 
theory,  but  yet  resting  on  an  ecclesiastical  basis.  He 
says  : 

"We  are  warranted  then,  I  think,  in  concluding 
that  so  far  as  her  fully  authorized  documents  are 
concerned,  the  Church  of  England  does  not  pro- 
nounce in  favor  either  of  the  purel}^  ecclesiasti- 
eal,  or  of  the  Sunday-Sabbatarian  view  of  the  Lord's- 
day.  Not  of  the  former,  for  the  day  is  of  divine  in- 
stitution. Not  of  the  latter,  for  though  she  presents 
the  parable  of  the  Jewish  law  as  a  reminder  that  the 
Sunday  is  of  divine  institution,  she  does  not  assert 
that  the  Sabbath  is  continued.  So  far  as  those  docu- 
ments are  concerned  we  seem  to  be  justified  in 
'standing  in  the  ways  and  seeing,  and  asking  for 
the  old  paths,  where'  is  the  good  way,  and  walking 
therein,'  if  happily  thereby,  we  'may  find  rest  for 
our  souls.'"  f         ' 

THE   PROTESTANT   EPISCOPAL   CHURCH. 

;   This  church  in  America  rests  upon  the  same   doc- 

•  *  The  Sincere  Christian  Instructed,  etc.,  chap.  15,  sec.  1,  pp. 
170,  171.  1  Sunday  Lee.  7,  pp.  195, 196. 


SABBATH     AlUB    SUNDAY.  409 

trinal  basis  as  the  Church  of  Enghind.  In  a  '*  Cate- 
chism on  the  Doctrines,  Usages  and  Holy  Days  of 
the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,"  we  find  a  number 
of  questions  and  answers  which  form  a  sort  of 
Puritan  theory  on  an  ecclesiastical  basis.  So  far  as 
these  refer  to  the  early  history  of  Sunday,  especially 
(luring  the  patristic  period,  they  are  remarkable  for 
tlie  ignorance  they  evince,  concerning  the  latest  in- 
vestigations in  that  department,  or  else  for  their  in- 
difference to  tlie  results  which  those  investigations 
have  reached.  The  following  are  some  of  the  ques- 
tions': 

SUNDAY,    OH   THE   LORD'S-DAY. 

"  Q.  What  day  of  the  week  does  the  Christian 
Church  keep  holy  ? 

A.  The  first  day  of  the  week,  called  Sunday. 

Q.  What  authority  have  we  for  the  change  of  this 
day  from  the  seventh  to  the  first  day  ? 

A.  The  authority  and  practice  of  the  Holj'"  Apos- 
tles, and  the  Church  in  all  ages. 

Q.  Why  was  Sundaj^  made  the  great  day  for 
Christian  rest  and  worship  ? 

A.  Because  the  resurrection  of  Christ  took  place 
on  the  first  da}"  of  the  week. 

Q.  Would  the  Apostles  have  changed  the  day  if 
Christ  had  not  instructed  them  to  do  so  ? 
•  A.  No,  they  acted  under  his  inspiration  and  b}' 
his  authorit}^ 

Q.  When  did  Jesus  instruct  his  disciples  ?  Acts 
1:2,3. 

A.  In  the  three  years  of  his  ministry,  and  also 
during  the  forty  da3"S  between  his  resurrection  and 
ascension,  when  he  gave  commandments  to  the  Apos- 
tles whom  he  had  chosen,  and  spake  of  the  things 
pertaining  to  the  kingdom  of- God.  , . 


410  SABBATH    AND   SUNDAY. 

Q.  Did  Christ  claim  to  control  the  Sabbath?  Luke 
6:  5. 

A  Yes,  he  declared  '  the  Son  of  man  is  Lord  also 
of  the  Sabbath.' 

Q.  Have  Christians  always  kept  the  first  day  since 
our  Saviour's  time  ? 

A.  Yes,  they  have,  in  all  ages  of  the  Church,  and 
this  universal  observance  of  the  tirst  day  proves  that 
it  must  have  been  so  ordered  by  Christ  and  his  Apos- 
tles. 

Q.  What  happened  on  the  first  Lord's-day. 

A.  Jesus  Christ  arose  from  the  dead,  and  on  the 
evening  of  the  same  day  appeared  to  his  disciples, 
and  gave  them  their  commission.     John  20  :  21,  22. 

Q.  What  happened  on  the  next  Sunday?  John 
20  :  27. 

A.  Jesus  appeared  to  the  disciples  again,  when  he 
gave  St.  Thomas  the  proof  he  required  to  confirm 
his  faith." 

Then  follow  the  usual  references  to  the  day  of 
Pentecost,  Acts  2:4;  also  the  reference  to  Acts  20  : 7 
and  Rev.  1 :  10.  * 

THE  WESTMINSTER  CONFESSION  AND  THE  SUNDAY. 

The  Westminster  Confession  forms  the  basis  of 
the  doctrines  of  the  Presbyterian,  Congregational, 
and  Baptist  branches  of  the  Church,  which  have 
been  developed  from  the  Puritan  stock  in  England, 
Scotland,  and  America  The  general  modifications 
which  have  been  made  in  the  creed  have  not  materially 
affected  its  statements  concerning  the  Sabbath  ques- 
tion. Chapter  21  treats  of  "  Religious  Worship,  and 
the  Sabbath-day."    Sections  7  and  8,  are  as  follows  : 

*  Catechism,  as  above,  pp.  8—11,  Church  and  Book  Society, 
New  York. 


SABBATH   AND    SUNDAY.  411 

"As  it  is  of  the  law  of  nature,  that,  in  general,  a 
due  proportion  of  time  be  set  apart  for  the  worship 
of  God  so,  in  his  Word,  by  a  positive,  moral  and 
perpetual  commandment,  binding  all  men  in  all  ages, 
he  hath  particularly  appointed  one  day  in  seven  for 
a  Sabbath,  to  be  kept  holy  unto  him  (Ex.  20  :  8,  10, 
11  ;  Isa.  56  :  2,  4,  6,  7),  which  from  the  beginning  of 
the  world  to  the  resurrection  of  Christ,  was  the  last 
day  of  the  week,  (Gen.  2  :  2,  3  ;  1  Cor.  16  :  1,  2  ;  Acts 
20 :  7),  and  from  the  resurrection  of  Christ  waa 
changed  into  the  first  day  of  the  week,  which  in 
Scripture  is  called  the  Lord's-day  (Rev.  1 :  10),  and 
is  to  be  continued  to  the  end  of  the  world  as  the 
Christian  Sabbath."  (Ex.  20:  8,  10,  with  Matt.  5: 
17,  18.) 

"This  Sabbath  is  then  kept  holy  unto  the  Lord, 
when  men,  after  a  due  preparing  of  their  hearts  and 
ordering  of  their  common  affairs  beforehand,  do  not 
only  observe  an  holy  rest  all  the  day  from  their  own 
works,  words  and  thoughts  about  their  worldly 
employments  and  recreations  (Ex.  20  :  8  ;  16  :  23,  25, 
26,  29,  30 ;  31 :  15-17,  Isa.  58  :  13,  Neh.  13 :  15-22), 
but  also  are  taken  up  the  whole  time  in  the  public 
and  private  exercises  of  his  worship,  and  in  the  du- 
ties of  necessity  and  mercy."  (Isa.  58  :  13  ;  Matt.  12 : 
1-13)* 

Those  branches  of  the  Church  which  have  sprung 
from  the  "Continental"  stock,  and  have  found  a 
home  in  America,  are  less  positive  and  rigid  in  their 
Sunday  creeds.  The  Reformed  Church  in  America 
(Dutch)  accepts  the  "Heidelburg  Catechism,"  and 
the  "Canons  of  the  Synod  of  Doit,"  as  doctrinal 
standards.  The  catechism,  as  issued  by  the  Board  of 
Publication,  New   York,   varies  slightly  from   the 

*  Schaff,  Creeds  of  Christendom,  Vol.  3,  pp.  648,  649. 


412  SABBATH   AND   SUNDAY. 

text  as  given  bj''  Dr.  Scliaff,*  and  adds  references  to 
the  Scriptures  which  are  assumed  to  support  the 
statements  made  in  answer  to  the  103d  question. 
The  following  is  from  the  American  edition: 

•' §.  103.  What  doth  God  require  in  the  fourth 
command  ? 

A.  First ;  that  the  ministry  of  the  gospel,  and  the 
schools  be  maintained  ;  and  that  I,  especially  on  the 
Sabbath,  that  is,  on  the  day  of  rest,  diligently  fre- 
quent the  church  of  God,  to  hear  his  "Word,  to  use 
the  sacraments,  publicly  to  call  on  the  Lord,  and 
contribute  to  the  relief  of  the  poor,  as  becomes  a 
Christian ;  secondly,  that  all  the  days  of  my  life  I 
cease  from  my  evil  works,  and  yield  myself  to  the 
Lord,  to  work  b}^  his  Holy  Spirit  in  me ;  and  thus 
begin  in  this  life  the  eternal  Sal)bath." 

In  the  "  Canons  of  Dort,"  and  in  the  "  Belgic  Con- 
fession "  as  accepted  by  this  church  in  America,  no 
reference  is  made  to  the  observance  of  Sunday,  f 

The  Lutheran  Church,  accepting  the  ''Augsburg 
Confession,"  teaches  the  ecclesiastical  theory.  Wit: 
ness  the  following  : 

"  What  shall  we  think,  then,  of  the  Lord's-day  and 
clmrch  ordinances  and  ceremonies  ?  To  this  our 
lca,rned  men  respond,  that  it  is  lawful  for  bishops  or 
pastors  to  make  ordinances,  that  things  be  done 
orderly  in  the  church  ;  not  that  we  should  purchase 
l)y  them  remission  of  sins,  or  that  we  can  satisfy  for 
•sins,  or  that  consciences  are  bound  to  judge  them 
necessary,  or  to  think  that  they  sin  who  without 
olTending  others  break  them.*'  ..  .  . 

' '  Even  such  is  the  observation  of  the  Lord's-day, 

*  Creeds,  etc.,  Vol.  3,  p.  345. 
.        .  fib.,  Vol.3. 


SABBATH     AIn^D    SUNDAY.  413 

of  Easter,  of  Pentecost,  and  the  like  holy  days  and 
rites.  For  they  that  judge  that  by  the  authority  of 
the  Church,  the  observing  of  Sunday,  instead  of  the 
Sabbath-day,  was  ordained  as  a  thing  necessary,  do 
greatly  err.  The  Scripture  permits  and  grants'  that 
the  keeping  of  the  Sabbath-day  is  now  free,  for  it 
teaches  that  the  ceremonies  of  Moses'  law,  since  the 
revelation  of  the  gospel,  are  not  necessary.  And  yet 
because  it  was  needful  to  ordain  a  certain  day,  that 
the  people  might  know  when  they  ought  to  come  to- 
gether, it  appears  that  the  church  did  appoint  Sun- 
day, which  day,  as  it  appears,  pleased  them  rather 
than  the  Sabbath-day,  even  for  this  cause,  that  men 
might  have  an  example  of  Christian  liljerty,  and 
might  know  that  the  keeping  and  observance  of  either 
Saturday,  or  any  other  day,  is  not  necessary." 

' '  There  are  wonderful  disputations  concerning  the 
changing  of  the  law,  the  ceremonies  of  the  new  law, 
the  changing  of  the  Sabbath-day,  which  all  have 
sprung  from  a  false  persuasion  and  belief  of  men, 
who  thought  that  there  must  needs  be  in  the  Church 
an  honoring  of  God,  like  the  Levitical  law,  and  that 
Christ  committed  to  the  apostles  and  bishops  au- 
thority to  invent  and  find  out  ceremonies  necessary 
to  salvation.  These  errors  crept  into  the  Church 
w^hen  the  'righteousness  of  faith  was  not  clearly 
taught.  Some  dispute  that  the  keeping  of  the  Sun- 
day is  not  fully,  but  only  in  a  certain  manner,  the 
ordinance  of  God.  They  prescribe  of  holy  days, 
how  far  it  is  lawful  to  work.  Such  manner  of  dis- 
putations, whatever  else  they  be,  are  but  snares  of 
consciences, "  * 

THE  METHODIST  P:PISC0PAL  CHURCH. 

.  The  "Articles  of  Religion,"  as  put  forth  by  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  America,  contain  no 

*The  Unaltered  Augsburg  Confession,  pp.  174, 175,  N.  Y.. 
1850. 


414  SABBATH    AND   SUKDAY. 

reference  to  the  Sunday  question.*  Among  its  de- 
nominational publications  are  several  tracts  on  the 
Sabbath  question.  Two  of  these — one  entitled,  "  The 
Proper  Observance  of  the  Sabbath  as  taught  in  the 
Scriptures,  and  the  other,  "  The  American  Sab- 
bath"— indicate  that  their  views  thus  expressed,  are 
of  the  modified  Puritan,  or  "Anglo-American" 
school.  Two  others,  put  forth,  one  in  1878,  and  one 
in  1880,  are  specially  intended  to  defend  the  Sunday 
against  the  Sabbath.  The  utterances  of  this  church 
in  its  various  organic  forms  are  also  in  favor  of  the 
religious,  orthodox  observance  of  Sunday.  So  that 
although  the  creed  per  se  does  not  aflSrm  anything 
directly  concerning  the  question  under  consideration, 
it  is  just  to  catalogue  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
with  those  who  believe  in  the  Sabbatic  observance  of 
Sunday,  on  ths  general  basis  of  the  "  Westminster  " 
platform . 

THE  BAPTIST  CHQRCH. 

The  Baptist  Church  has  already  been  classified  with 
the  branches  which  accept  the  Westminster  platform 
concerning  Sunday.  The  views  of  the  "Regular" 
Baptists  are  put  forth  in  detail,  in  the  following  ex- 
tracts from  the  "  Directory,"  by  Dr.  Hiscox  : 

"the  CHRISTIAN  SABBATH." 

"  We  believe  the.  Scriptures  teach  that  the  first  day 
of  the  week  is  the  Lord's-day,  or  Christian  Sabbath, 
and  is  to  be  kept  sacred  to  religious  purposes ;  by 

*  See  Schaff,  Creeds,  etc.  Vol.  3,  p.  807,  seq. 


SABBATH    AND   SUi^DAY.  415 

abstaining  from  all  secular  labor  and  sinful  recrea- 
tions, by  the  devout  observance  of  all  the  means  of 
grace,  both  private  and  public ;  and  by  preparation 
for  that  rest  that  remaineth  for  the  people  of  God." 

'•'places  in  the  bible  where  taught." 

1.  ''Acts  20  :  7,  On  the  first  day  of  the  week,  when 
the  disciples  came  together  to  break  bread,  Paul 
preached  to  them.  Gen.  2  :  3,  Col.  2  :  16,  17,  Mark 
2  :  27,  John  20  :  19,  1  Cor.  16  :  1,  2." 

2.  "  Ex.  20  :  8,  Remember  the  Sabbath-day  to  keep 
it  holy.  Rev.  1:10,  I  was  in  the  Spirit  on  the 
Lord's-day.  Psa.  118  •  24,  This  is  the  day  which 
the  Lord  hath  made,  we  will  rejoice  and  be  glad  in 
it." 

3.  "Isa.  58:  13,  14,  If  thou  turn  away  thy  foot 
from  the  Sabbath,  from  doing  thy  pleasure  on  my 
holy  day,  and  call  the  Sabbath  a  delight,  the  holy  of 
the  Lord,  honorable,  and  shalt  honor  him,  not  doing 
thine  own  ways,  nor  finding  thine  own  pleasure,  nor 
speaking  thine  own  words ;  then  shalt  thou  delight 
thyself  in  the  Lord,  and  I  will  cause  thee  to  ride  up- 
on the  high  places  of  the  earth,  and  feed  thee  with 
the  heritage  of  Jacob.     Isa.  56  :  2-8." 

4.  "  Psa.  113:  15,  The  voice  of  rejoicing  and  sal- 
vation is  in  the  tabernacles  of  the  righteous." 

5.  "  Ileb.  10  :  24,  25,  ISTot  forsaking  the  assembling 
of  yourselves  together,  as  the  manner  of  some  is. 
Acts.  11:  26,  A  whole  year  they  assembled  them- 
selves with  the  church,  and  taught  much  people. 
Acts  13 :  44,  The  next  Sabbath-day,  came  almost 
the  whole  city  together,  to  hear  the  Word  of  God. 
Lev.  19  :  30,  Ex.  46 :  3,  Luke  4 :  16,  Acts  17:  2,  3. 
Psa.  26:  8;  87:  3." 

6.  "  Heb.  4  :  3-11,  Let  us  labor  therefore  to  enter 
into  that  rest."*' 

♦Baptist  Church  Directory,  by  E.  T.  Hiscox,  D.  D.,  pp. 
171,  172. 


416  SAHJJATH    AND    S  UK  DAY. 

Very  Hli,i,rht  analysis  is  neodcd  (osliow  that  all  tlioso 
theories  arc  based  on  the  i)arent  theory  of  tlie  Ro- 
niisli  Cliureh.  That  was  the  first  theory  promulij^ated 
(toncernini^  Sunday  ol)S(!rvan(;e.  It  was  not  essenti- 
ally modified  until  the  Puritan  niovcinient,  at  the 
(;lose  of  the  sixteenth  century.  That  movement  add- 
i'.d  the  ddim  that  the  fourtli  commandment  had 
been,  or  might  be  transferred  to  the  Bunchiy.  15ut 
since  candor  and  intelligence  are  forced  to  admit 
tliat  the  Scriptures  do  not  authorize  such  a  transfer, 
the  Puritan  theory  only  "  changes  the  place,  and 
keeps  the  pain,"  and  fails  to  lift  Sunday-keeping 
jvbove  the  level  of  human  authority.  The  battle 
must  still  be  kept  in  array  around  this  vital  issue, 
vi/. :  are  t/ie  Scriptures,  Qod's  Word,  ilie  uUuiuite au- 
thority ameer niiig  the  Sabbath,  or  shall  these  he  set- 
aside,  and  the  custom  of  th.e  church,  and  the  civil  laic 
be  accepted  in  t/ieir  stead  f 

The  undeniable  fact  that  the  Sabbatic  observance 
of  Sunday  has  become  a  thing  of  the  past  to  so  great 
am  extimt  in  the  United  States,  shows  that  the  loose 
and  in(lctinit(!  creeds  given  above;  have  little  or  no 
power  over  the  lives  of  those  who  assert  them.  Such 
disastrous  results  must  always  ciune  when  men  cut 
loose  from  the  Word  of  God,  or  compromise  between 
the  demands  of  his  law  and  their  own  earth-born 
theorit'S. 


CHAPTER  XXVIir. 

Observance  of   Sunday  in  the: 


V 


NITED     JStATES, 


It  is  now  pertinent,  to  inciuire  what  the  jictual  state 
of  the  case  is  as  regards  the  practical  observance  of 
the  Sunday  under  these  creeds  as  given  in  the  pre- 
ceding chapter,  and  the  additional  influences  which 
are  at  work.  In  presenting  this  part  of  the  picture- 
we  shall  aim  to  give  the  opinions  of  representative 
men  who  have  lately  spoken,  rather  than  our  own 
opinions,  since  it  is  easy  to  charge  an  author  with 
"  manufacturing  facts,"  when  he  gives  only  his  own 
conclusions.  The  best  exposition  of  "orthodox" 
opinions,  as  now  held  is  found  in  the  late  volume  of 
Sabbath  Essays,  written  in  1879,  which  has  already 
been  referred  to  in  former  pages.  The  volume  is^ 
valuable  as  an  embodiment  of  current  history.  First,, 
note  the  following : 

"THE  AMERICAN  SAUHATH." 

Jiy  Rev.  Edward  S.  Atwood  of  Salem,  Mas9. 

"  It  needs  only  slight  alteration  of  accent  to  change 
holy-day  into  holiday  ;  and  yet  what  practical  shift 
of  emphasis  of  that  sort  has  been  effected  in  regard 
to  the  American  Sabbath  has  been  wrought  by  a 
multitude  of  factors  working  through  more  than  a 

(27) 


418  SABBATH  AND  SUNDAY. 

century  of  national  life.  That  the  general  estimate 
of  the  Lord's-day  has  undergone  serious  modifica- 
tion is  beyond  question ;  that  the  present  trend  of 
popular  thought  is  towards  a  more  exhaustive  denial 
■of  its  special  sanctity  is  equally  evident.  There  is 
reason  for  sorrow  and  alarm  in  the  fact  that  the  na- 
tion has  been  swept  so  far  from  its  original  status ; 
there  is  ground  for  comfort  and  hope  in  the  fact  that 
the  drift  has  been  so  slow,  in  spite  of  the  push  of 
almost  irresistible  winds  and  tides." 

In  the  conclusion  that  the  "drift  has  been  slow," 
Mr.  Atwood  will  find  many  who  cannot  agree  with 
him,  but  who,  on  the  contrary,  will  see  a  most  rapid 
change,  especially  during  the  present  century.  The 
facts  which  he  goes  on  to  enumerate  indicate  rather 
£L  swift  decline  than  a  slow  drifting.  It  is  more 
nearly  like  the  fatal  sinking  of  a  fever  than  the 
gradual  advances  of  a  chronic  disease.  In  the  next 
paragraph  Mr.  Atwood  says  : 

"The  actual  decline  in  Sabbath  reverence  is  best 
measured  by  contrasting  initial  and  terminal  facts. 
In  1620  a  company  of  Pilgrims ,  after  a  wearisome 
voyage,  making  an  exploration  for  a  place  to  land, 
^re  driven  by  stress  of  weather  to  an  unknown  isl- 
and, and,  finding  themselves  unable  to  regain  the 
ship  before  the  Sabbath,  spend  the  Lord's-day  un- 
sheltered in  the  bleak,  wintry  air,  rather  than  seem 
to  trespass  on  holy  time.  In  this  year  of  grace,  great 
excursion-steamers  plough  through  the  same  waters 
on  the  Sabbath,  loaded  with  pleasure-seekers,  and 
the  shores  of  C  lark's  Island  echo  back  the  sound  of 
careless  laughter  and  the  crash  of  bands.  In  1621, 
when  the  very  existence  of  the  colony  seems  to  de- 
pend upon  friendly  relations  with  the  Indians,  chief 
.Samoset  and  a  company  of  his  braves  make  their  ap- 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  419 

pearance  on  Sabbath  morning,  and  commence  over- 
tures of  peace  by  a  proffer  of  traffic;  but,  in  spite  of 
the  imminence  of  the  crisis,  the  sturdy  Pilgrim  re- 
fuses to  desecrate  the  Lord's-day  by  business,  and 
the  embassy  retires  in  ill  humor,  leaving  the  aspect 
of  affairs  more  threatening  than  ever.  In  this  year 
of  grace,  on  each  Sabbath-day,  railway  trains  are 
thundering  north,  south,  east  and  west ;  metro- 
politan post-offlces  are  alive  with  a  corps  of  busy  work- 
ers ;  manufactories  are  taking  advantage  of  the  time 
to  make  repairs  in  the  machinery  ;  steam  presses  are 
clattering  with  preparation  for  the  issue  of  the  morn- 
ing journals  ;  the  cry  of  the  news  boys  with  their  Sun- 
day papers  dins  the  ears  of  the  wort^hipers  on  their 
way  to  church  ;  public  pleasure  resorts  find  it  their 
most  profitable  day  for  business  ;  restaurants  and  sa- 
loons have  a  thriving  trade  ;  and  sacred  (?)  concerts 
and  a  variety  of  entertainments  fill  out  the  last  of  the 
hoi}  hours.  I  am  aware  that  this  is  a  partial  showing 
of  American  Sabbath  observance  ;  there  is  another 
side  to  the  matter  ;  but  these  things  are,  and  must  be 
set  in  contrast  with  the  things  that  were." 

And  this  in  Boston  ?  Let  the  reader  remember 
that  it  is  not  of  Chicago,  Cincinnati,  New  Orleans, 
Paris  or  Berlin,  that  Mr.  Atwood  writes  these  tren- 
chant words.  It  is  Boston,  the  home  of  Puri- 
tanism and  of  culture  ;  the  place  yet  holding  the 
memory  of  days  when  no  man  could  even  smoke  to- 
bacco within  two  miles  of  a  church  on  Sunday,  un- 
punished, or  stay  away  from  the  public  worship 
unchallenged.  As  a  fact  in  history,  however  the 
reader  may  look  upon  the  merits  of  the  case,  it  is  a 
sweeping  and  most  significant  change.  It  indicates 
also  another  important  feature  of  the  subject  which 


420  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

these  pages  are  considering,  viz.,  the  Sunday  Laws. 
On  this  point  Mr.  Atwood  says  : 

"  An  almost  equal  difference  is  noticeable  in  the 
legislation  of  the  two  periods.  The  first  codification 
of  the  laws  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony  was 
made  in  1648,  in  the  framing  of  which  Bellingham 
and  Cotton  had  a  large  share.  In  the  first  draught 
of  those  laws  by  Mr.  Cotton,  among  the  crimes  pun- 
ishable with  death  was  '  Profaning  the  Lord's-day 
in  a  careless  or  scornful  neglect  or  contempt  thereof. ' 
This  penalty  was  erased  by  Winthrop,  and  it  was 
'  left  to  the  discretion  of  the  court  to  inflict  other 
punishment  short  of  death. '  In  Connecticut  it  was 
enacted  in  1648,  that  'Profanation  of  the  Lord's-day 
shall  be  punished  bj^  fine,  imprisonment,  or  corporal 
punishment ;  and,  if  proudly  and  with  a  high  hand 
against  the  authority  of  God,  with  death.'  The 
earlier  legislation  of  New  York,  as  represented  by 
the  'Decrees  and  Ordinances  of  Peter  Stuyvesant,' 
1647-48,  makes  special  provision  for  securing  the 
sanctity  of  the  Sabbath.  All  of  the  original  States  of 
the  Union  had  Sabbath -laws  on  their  statute-books, 
and  the  same  thing  has  been  true  in  the  growth  of 
the  Republic.  Every  commonwealth  in  the  land 
makes  formal  recognition  of  the  Lord's-day  in  its 
laws  ;  and  the  general  government  adds  the  weight 
of  its  sanction,  in  its  provision  for  a  rest-day  for  its 
employes.  But  in  this  year  of  grace  (1879)  stormy 
mass-meetings  demand  the  abrogation  of  these  laws, 
and  widely  circulated  journals  and  pamphlets  de- 
claim against  this  infringement  of  the  rights  of  man. 
The  provisions  still  stand  on  the  statute-book,  but,  as 
'  inter  arma  silent  leges;'  so  in  this  war  of  opposi- 
tion they  are  not  executed,  and  to  a  great  extent,  all 
over  the  land,  the  Sabbath-law  is  a  dead  letter  so  far 
as  its  restraint  upon  individual  conduct  is  concerned. 

During  the  first  century  and  a  quarter  of  American 
history,  the  shift  in  popular  sentiment  in  the  direc- 


SABBATH    AND   SUNDAY.  421 

tion  of  looseness  in  the  matter  of  Sabbath  observance 
was  exceedingly  slow  and  comparatively  insignifi- 
cant. No  small  stress  has  been  laid  on  the  demoral- 
izing influence  of  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  and  bj- 
many  it  is  thought  that  the  first  damaging  blow  was 
then  struck  at  the  Puritan  idea.  It  is  questionable, 
however,  whether  far  more  mischief  was  not  wrought 
by  the  epidemic  of  French  infidelity  which  set  in  im- 
mediately after  the  recognition  of  the  Republic — a 
sneering,  mocking  unfaith  in  every  thing  sacred, 
which  became  the  vogue  in  high  circles,  and  num- 
bered among  its  adherents  men  of  brilliant  talents 
and  foremost  station,  like  Aaron  Burr  and  Thomas 
Jefferson.  The  religious  criticism  and  disbelief  of 
the  times  were  hardl}'^  likely  to  leave  undisturbed  in 
the  popular  reverence  the  institution  of  the  Sabbath, 
which  was  one  of  the  mightiest  pillai  s  of  the  temple 
they  were  endeavoring  to  overthrow.      .     .     . 

"  The  second  period  in  the  history  of  the  American 
Sabbath  may  be  loosely  said  to  cover  a  period  of 
some  forty  years,  commencing  with  the  revival  and 
wonderful  stimulation  of  the  material  prosperity  of 
the  country  after  the  close  of  the  war  of  1812.  There 
had  been  a  previous  development  of  industrial  en- 
terprise, but  it  seems  trivial  in  the  light  of  to-day. 
The  hum  of  the  spindles  had  not  yet  been  heard  in 
Lowell  and  Lawrence,  and  Manchester  and  Fall 
River,  and  the  great  manufacturing  centers  of  New 
England,  Buffalo  and  Chicago,  and  the  teeming- 
cities  of  the  West,  had  not  yet  entered  even  into  the 
dreams  of  the  most  enterprising  capitalists.  Com- 
merce crept  slowly  in  diminutive  vessels  from  port 
to  port,  A  ship  of  five  hundred  tons  was  considered 
a  wonder.  Railways  and  steam-boats  and  telegraphs 
and  labor-saving  machinery  were  yet  to  come.  But 
they  came  ;  and  between  1820  and  1860  there  was  in 
America  the  most  amazing  development,  the  most  mag- 
nificent flowering-out  of  industrial  enterprise,  which 


422  SABBATH    AND   SUNDAY. 

the  world  has  ever  seen.  The  financial  depression 
of  1837  arrested  the  progress  for  a  moment,  and  then 
the  push  onwards  was  more  impetuous  than  before. 
In  the  hurry  and  fever  of  that  hot  race  sacred  things 
lost  their  sanctity.  The  spiritual  was  subordinated 
to  the  material.  It  is  true  that  within  this  period  re- 
ligion caught  something  of  the  same  spirit  of  enter- 
prise, and  concreted  and  crystallized  its  enthusiasms 
in  great  benevolent  organizations,  like  the  American 
Board,  and  similar  corporations.  At  the  same  time, 
it  is  undeniably  true  that  a  process  of  disintegration 
was  going  on  in  the  religious  sentiment  of  the  peo- 
ple. Spirituality  was  losing  its  hold,  and  business 
was  tightening  its  grip.  The  money-making  day  was 
getting  to  be  more  highly  esteemed  than  the  Lord's- 
day.  But  along  with  this,  and  more  than  this,  im- 
migration was  introducing  a  vast  alien  element  into 
the  population  of  the  country.  The  ocean  was  turn- 
ed into  a  vast  highway,  over  which  day  and  night 
tramped  the  unending  procession  of  those  who  were 
seeking  these  shores.  They  came  from  lands  where 
the  Sabbath  is  a  holiday,  and  they  brought  their 
Sabbath  with  them.  The  elasticity  of  American 
laws  regulating  religious  liberty  allowed  them  large 
license  in  this  matter  of  Sabbath  observance.  The 
-coercion  of  the  civil  statute  went  no  farther  than  the 
restraint  put  upon  open  business,  and  the  require- 
ment of  non-disturbance  of  worshipers,  It  was 
nearly  equivalent  to  no  restriction.  Between  those 
two  poles  there  was  room  for  a  whole  globe  of  laxity. 
Sabbath  pleasure-resorts  began  to  multiply  ;  Sabbath 
entertainments  were  inaugurated  in  the  great  cities. 
The  roads  grew  thick  with  the  dust ,  and  the  harbors 
were  white  with  tlie  sails,  of  the  holiday  seekers. 
The  desecration  of  the  day  was  bad  enough  in  itself, 
but  it  was  worse  in  its  influence.  It  continually 
stood  out  as  a  protest,  and  flaunted  its  defiance  at  the 
American  idea  of  the  Sabbath.     More  than  that,  by 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  423 

contrast  it  had  its  fascination.  It  was  attractive  to 
the  young  and  thoughtless.  Its  freedom  and  sparkle 
were  tempting  to  the  man  whose  confining  labor  had 
indisposed  him  to  serious  thought.  And  so,  gradu- 
ally, the  European  theory  began  to  color  and  modify 
the  American  theory,  encroaching  more  and  more, 
and  striking  its  stain  deeper  and  deeper,  until  the 
panic  of  1857  broke  upon  the  country,  and  over  the 
debris  of  ruined  fortunes  and  shattered  business  the 
Spirit  of  God  marched  through  the  land,  and  through 
the  new-born  religious  enthusiasm  of  thousands,  the 
day  recovered  something  of  the  old  reverence  of  the 
popular  heart. 

"  The  third  period  in  the  history  of  the  American 
Sabbath — the  period  in  which  we  are  now  living — 
commenced  with  the  war  of  the  Rebellion.  In  a 
paper  read  before  the  National  Sabbath  Convention 
at  Saratoga,  in  1868,  Dr.  Philip  Schaff  said,  *  The 
severest  trial  through  which  the  American  Sabbath 
ever  had  to  pass,  or  is  likely  to  pass  in  the  future,  is  the 
civil  war  which  has  now  been  raging  with  increasing 
fury  for  more  than  two  years.  The  desecration  of  the 
Sabbath  soon  after  the  outbreak  of  the  war  increased  at 
a  most  alarming  rate,  and  threatened  the  people  with 
greater  danger  than  the  Rebellion  itself. '  The  accu- 
racy of  the  prophecy  has  been  abundantly  proved. 
Probably  no  great  war  was  ever  carried  on  in  which 
such  strenuous  endeavor  was  made  to  secure  the 
morality,  as  well  as  the  morale,  of  the  army.  The 
'  orders '  of  some  of  the  commanders,  conspicuous 
among  which  are  '  general  orders '  of  the  President 
himself ,  read  like  sermons  eliminated  of  their  dull- 
ness. A  corps  of  the  Christian  Commission  marched 
with  every  brigade  and  division  of  the  grand  army, 
and  pitched  their  tents  or  built  their  chapels  for 
Sabbath  worship.  Religious  books  and  newspapers 
were  widely  circulated.  In  field  and  hospital  alike 
devoted  chaplains  labored  to  keep  alive  reverence  for 


424  SABBATH     AND    SUNDAY. 

Ood  and  his  laws.  The  postal  service  transmitted 
thousands  of  letters  tilled  with  religious  counsel.  The 
whole  atmosphere  was  tremulous  with  prayer.  And 
yet  in  a  little  more  than  a  decade  after  all  this,  the  out- 
look is  so  threatening  that  a  convention  is  in  session 
in  the  metropolis  of  New  England,  to  devise  meas- 
ures to  re-establish  and  perpetuate  the  sanctity  of  the 
Lord's-day. 

-"  History  repeats  itself.  Just  as  after  the  war  of  the 
lie  volution,  French  infidelity  saw  and  was  quick  to 
embrace  its  opportunity  to  infatuate  men  with  its 
frivolous  criticisms  upon  Christianity;  so  in  the  last 
decade  English  materialism  and  German  mysticism 
have  taken  advantage  of  the  relaxed  condition  of  the 
popular  thought  to  push  themselves  into  prominence, 
and  secure  acceptance.  Next  to  the  Word  of  God 
the  Sabbath  is  the  Gibraltar  of  the  Christian  syj-tem, 
the  imperial  fortress  that  secures  the  whole  Mediter- 
ranean of  revealed  religion.  It  is,  therefore,  nothing 
surprising  that  the  assaults  upon  it  should  be  so 
sharp  and  so  persistent.  Materialism  and  mysticism 
both  see  that  it  is  easier  to  induce  men  to  loosen  their 
grip  upon  an  institution  than  it  is  to  persuade  them 
to  renounce  a  system,  especially  where  their  hold 
<Lipon  that  institution  has  been  relaxed  by  some  great 
strain  of  national  history  ;  but  materialism  and  mys- 
ticism see  with  equal  clearness  that  with  the  Sab- 
bath swept  away,  or  essentially  modified  in  its  ob- 
servance, complete  victory  is  only  a  question  of  time. 
Happily,  but  none  too  soon,  the  church  of  God  sees 
It  also,  and  is  beginning  to  prepare  itself  for  the 
coming  Armageddon  of  American  Christianity. 

"  There  are  three  things  that  at  the  present  time 
:specially  stand  in  the  way  of  the  perpetuity  of  the 
American  Sabbath  : 

' '  I.  The  impotence  of  (he  civil  lair.  To  what  ex- 
tent it  is  wise  and  well  to  push  the  endeavor  to  se- 
4cure  the  observance  of   the  Lord's-dav  by  legislation 


SABBATH    AND   SUNDAY.  425 

it  is  not  the  province  of  this  paper  to  discuss  ;  but  so 
long  as  restrictive  regulations  stand  upon  the  statute- 
books,  and  are  not  adjudged  illegal  or  unjust,  they 
should  be  enforad,  and  their  annexed  penalties  in- 
flicted, whether  the  violator  be  an  individual  or  a 
great  corporation.  That  they  are  operative,  except 
in  a  trivial  and  farcical  way,  no  man  pretends.  Now 
and  then  some  poor  beggar  is  under  arrest  for  card- 
playing  on  the  Sabbath  ;  but  the  managers  of  gi'eat 
Sunday  excursions,  that  turn  out  to  be  perfect  pan- 
demoniums, cooly  pocket  their  profits,  and  defy  the 
authorities  to  touch  them.  The  inaction  of  the  law 
breeds  contempt  of  the  law  and  of  that  which  the 
law  is  set  to  guard.  The  paralysis  of  the  civil  arm 
encourages  outrage.  The  danger  in  this  quarter  is 
incalculable.  Few  men  have  even  read  the  Sab- 
bath-laws of  this  Commonwealth,  and  fewer  still 
have  urged  their  enforcement.  It  is  well  judged  by 
interested  parties,  that  the  inefficiency  of  the  statutes 
is  due  to  the  fact  that  there  is  no  solid  public  senti- 
ment that  supports  them  ;  and,  where  this  is  lacking, 
the  technic  of  the  code  is  as  powerless  as  the  Pope's 
bull  against  the  comet. 

' '  II.  A  second  danger  lies  in  the  false  rwtions  of 
personal  liberty  that  are  obtaining  with  great  masses 
of  the  population,  and  which  are  humored,  if  not 
fostered,  by  political  leaders  for  party  ends.  The 
clamor  in  New  York  and  Cincinnati  and  Chicago, 
against  Sabbath-laws  as  an  infringement  upon  the 
rights  of  the  individual,  is  not  sporadic,  but  symptom- 
atic. Communism  is  half-sister  of  republicanism  ; 
and  those  subtle  and  perilous  theories  of  freedom 
that  privilege  every  man  to  do  as  he  pleases  under  a 
representative  government  have  made  surprising- 
headway.  Restraint  on  what  seems  to  be  the  religious 
side  is  peculiarly  obnoxious.  Political  fallacies 
re-enforce  personal  preferences  in  the  attempt  to  sec- 
ularize the  Sabbath  :  and  in  a  country  like  ours  that 


426  SABBATH     AND    SUNDAY. 

constitutes  a  formidable  alliance.  That  central  truth 
of  State-craft,  liberty  under  authority,  imperatively 
calls  for  re-affirmation.  The  subordination  of  indi 
vidual  right  to  the  general  good,  the  limitation  of 
personal  privilege  by  the  common  need,  are  integral 
elements  in  a  stable  national  life  ;  but  in  some  direc- 
tions there  is  strenuous  endeavor  made  to  remand 
them  to  obscurity ;  and  especially  in  the  matter  of 
abrogating  or  neutralizing  Sabbath-law,  in  the  name 
of  liberty,  there  is  surprising  persistence  and  enthu- 
siasm. 

"III.  The  third  and,  perhaps,  greatest  peril  is  the 
apathy  of  the  Christian  church.  The  assembling  of 
this  convention  might  seem  to  refute  that  statement, 
but  at  most  it  is  only  a  late  confession  of  sin.  From 
time  to  time  some  of  the  pulpits  of  the  land  have 
been  outspoken  on  the  subject,  and  ecclesiastical 
bodies  have  formulated  their  faith,  and  then  buried 
it  in  the  sepulchre  of  a  series  of  resolutions  ;  but  the 
Avork  has  too  often  been  merely  perfunctory,  and  sel- 
dom if  ever  has  been  followed  by  the  edge  and 
flame  of  enthusiastic  effort.  Our  dearly-bought 
rights  in  this  matter,  inherited  from  the  fathers, 
have  many  of  them  been  wrested  from  our  hands  ; 
and  the  church  has  made  its  little  moan  over  the 
theft,  but  has  uttered  no  strong  protest,  and  put 
forth  no  mighty  endeavor  to  recover  its  lost  jewels . 
As  we  contemplate  the  future  of  the  American  Sab- 
bath, the  darkest  cloud  that  looms  above  the  horizon 
is  the  indifference  of  the  nominal  Christianity  of  the 
land.  The  church  of  God  is  the  one  sovereign  hu- 
man instrumentality  by  whose  efficiency  or  inefficien- 
cy the  position  of  the  Lord's-da3%  in  the  estimate  of  the 
coming  generations,  is  to  be  settled  ;  and,  since  the 
beginnings  of  Christianity,  no  graver  responsibility 
has  been  laid  upon  the  disci pleship  than  rests  upon 
it  at  this  hour  and  in  this  particular. 

"  It  has  been  the  peculiar  boast  of  the  Christianity 


SABBATH   AND    SUNDAY.  427 

of  the  land  that  in  no  country  was  the  actual  so 
nearly  the  ideal  Sabbath  as  in  America.  There  have 
been  times  when  that  was  true.  The  shrewd  French 
observer  Duponceau  once  said  that,  'of  all  we 
claimed  as  characteristic,  our  observance  of  the  Sab- 
bath is  the  only  one  truly  national  and  American.' 
That  boast  is  not  wholly  without  warrant  still.  The 
closed  doors  of  the  Centennial  Exhibition  at  Phila- 
delphia preached  a  manly  and  eloquent  sermon.  The 
Sabbath  stillness  in  the  halls  of  magistracy,  in  banks 
and  custom-houses,  in  great  manufactories  whose 
din  and  smoke  fill  the  air  the  other  six  days,  the 
church-bells  that  ring  out  in  city  and  village,  and 
the  thousands  that  gather  for  worship — these  things 
must  not  be  forgotten  or  undervalued.  And  yet  un- 
deniably there  is  a  vast  drift  of  popular  sentiment 
the  other  way — a  drift  that  is  steadily  growing  in 
volume  and  momentum,  which  has  already  gone  too 
far,  which  must  be  arrested  soon,  or  it  will  become 
irresistable. "  * 

Such  are  Mr.  At  wood's  views.  His  paper  is  a  val- 
uable one.  Some  points  in  it  will  be  considered  in  a 
succeeding  chapter,  when  we  come  to  considers  the 
'  *  Verdict  of  History  "  The  decline  in  regard  for 
Sunday,  which  Mr.  Atwood  describes  as  being  so 
marked  in  1879,  has  increased  with  accumulating  mo- 
mentum, until  1884  and  1885  have  seen  more  wide- 
spread and  defiant  trampling  on  Sunday,  in  Boston 
and  elsewhere,  than  an}'  previous  period  has  shown. 
Disregard  for  Sunday  rushes  over  the  land  like  an 
avalanche  nearing  the  foot  of  the  mountain. 

In    these    same    Sabbath    Essays,   Rev.    Reuben 

*  Sabbath  Essays,  pp.  262-271. 


428  SABBATH   AI^D   SUN^DAY. 

Thomas,  of  Brookline,  Mass.,  presents  a  paper  upon 
"The  Sabbath  and  Our  Foreign  Population."  Speak- 
ing of  their  relation  to  the  Sunday  question  in  Amer- 
ica, he  says : 

"But  what  of  Germany  in  regard  to  this  question? 
Probably  her  population,  thronging  the  cities  of  the 
expansive  and  fertile  West,  will  exercise  here  an  in- 
fluence for  good  or  evil  in  many  things,  the  magni- 
tude of  which  is  hardly  yet  perceived  even  bj'^  the 
men  of  keenest  vision.  The  vote  of  our  German 
population  will,  I  fear,  be  adverse  to  any  thing  like 
a  perpetuation  of  the  old  New  England  ideas  of  the 
Sabbath.  We  have  only  to  visit  Cincinnati,  Milwau- 
kee, Chicago,  and  other  cities,  to  see  in  what  direc- 
tion things  are  moving.  On  Sunday  Cincinnati  is 
little  else  than  a  huge  beer-garden  rapidly  on  its  way 
to  become  a  huge  bear-garden. 

"I  was  in  Chicago  in  July,  occupying  the  pulpit 
of  the  Second  Presbyterian  Church  for  three  Sun- 
days. The  First  Presbyterian  Church  is  within  a 
few  hundred  yards.  Other  influential  churches  are 
in  that  immediate  neighborhood.  But  the  whole  of 
them  together  are  not  strong  enough  to  prevent  the 
opening  of  a  huge  beer  hall  and  garden  close  to  their 
very  doors.  This,  be  it  remarked,  in  what  is  con- 
sidered the  most  respectable  part  of  the  city,  where 
sorne  of  the  wealthiest  Chicago  merchants  live. 
This  beer  hall  and  garden  is  open  every  day  of  the 
week,  but  it  seems  to  be  particularly  open  on  Sun- 
days. On  the  Sunday  in  July  to  which  I  refer  it 
seemed  to  have  a  patronage  far  in  excess  of  the  most 
popular  churches.  And  '  if  these  things  be  done  in 
the  green  tree,  what  shall  be  done  in  the  dry  ? '  If 
they  be  done  in  the  very  teeth  of  the  most  influential 
religious  men  of  a  city,  what  will  they  do  in  those 
populous  parts  where  the  poorer  men  and  women 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  429 

congTegate,  and  from  whence  too  often  churches 
emigrate  ? "  * 

The  papers  for  November,  1884,  say  that  "  Sunday 
theatrical  performances  are  tolerated  by  law  in  five 
of  the  principal  cities  in  the  United  States :  San 
Francisco,  Cincinnati,  St.  Louis,  New  Orleans,  and 
Chicago.  Chicago  has  eleven  regular  threatres  open 
Sunday  night,"    So  the  tide  increases. 

Under  the  head  of  ' '  Corporations  and  the  Sab- 
bath," Rev.  W.  F.  Mallalieu,  D.  D.,  of  Chelsea, 
Mass.,  makes  the  following  statements.  It  will  be 
seen  that  his  statements  assume  that  Boston  and 
Massachusetts  represent  the  rest  of  the  United  States. 
Whereas  it  is  undoubtedly  true  that  the  "desecra- 
tion "  of  Sunday  is  far  gTeater  in  many  other  places 
than  in  Boston  and  Massachusetts. 

' '  The  great  Sabbath-breaking  corporations  of  the 
country  are  those  controlling  the  railroads  and  steam- 
boats. 

"Boston  and  Massachusetts  may  serve  as  an  exam- 
ple of  the  manner  in  which  the  Sabbath  is  desecrated 
all  over  the  country. 

"  Twenty-five  years  ago  such  a  thing  as  a  Sunday 
steam-boat  excursion  was  unknown  ;  but  now,  all 
through  the  summer  months,  the  harbor  of  Boston 
is  alive  with  excursions.  The  last  summer  was 
worse  in  this  regard  than  any  that  has  preceded  it, 
and  the  next  threatens  to  be  worse  than  this. 

' '  The  churches  are  shut,  or  only  open  a  half -day  ;. 
ministers  are  away,  the  saints  are  scattered  or  asleep, 
and  the  devil  holds  high  carnival.  Press  and  pulpit 
are  alike  silent  on  the  open  and  shameless  violation 

*  Sabbath  Essays,  pp.  321,  322. 


430  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

of  the  laws  of  God  and  men  ;  and  some  go  so  far  in 
their  mawkish  sympathy  as  mildly  to  apologize  for 
all  this  wickedness.  So  much  for  the  religious  press 
and  the  pulpit.  The  secular  press  is  utterly  silent, 
,  or  approves  of  the  Sabbath  desecration. 

"  But  the  railroads  centering  in  Boston  are  worse, 
if  possible,  than  the  steam-boats.  Twenty-five  years 
ago  the  running  of  a  train  of  cars  for  any  purpose 
was  a  thing  to  be  remarked  ;  but  now  there  is  not 
an  exception  to  the  desecration  of  the  Sabbath  by 
any  road.  Not  only  are  passenger  trains  run  on 
Sunday,  but  also  freight,  and  these,  in  some  in- 
stances, connecting  with  steam-boats,  as  is  notably 
the  case  with  some  of  the  lines  running  to  New 
York. 

"  This  deplorable  condition  of  affairs  is  growing 
worse  and  worse  from  year  to  year ;  and  from  pres- 
ent indications  these  great  corporations  will  in  the 
future  as  thoroughly  ignore  the  existence  of  the  Sab- 
bath as  though  there  were  none. 

"  Along  the  same  line  of  operations  we  see  that 
the  horse-railroads,  especially  in  the  summer-time, 
make  the  Sabbath  their  harvest-day.  Then  it  is  that 
they  are  thronged  by  pleasure-seekers  and  Sunday 
visitors,  who  are  thoroughly  careless  of  the  Sabbath. 
These  roads  are  run,  not  as  a  matter  of  necessity  or 
mercy,  but  simply  and  solely  for  the  money  that  is 
to  be  made. 

"  These  corporations,  controlling  the  steam-boats, 
steam-railroads,  and  horse-railroads,  are  the  great, 
shameless,  audacious,  defiant  leaders  in  the  sin  of 
public  Sabbath-breaking. 

"The  evil  consequences  of  this  Sabbath  violation 
are  threefold  : 

"I.  First,  there  is  involved  the  necessity  of  the 
employment  of  vast  numbers  of  men  to  carry  on  the 
work  that  must  be  performed.  Tens  of  thousands 
of  men  are  employed  by  these  corporations  every 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  43.1 

Sabbath ;  and  it  is  an  almost  impossible  thing  for 
any  man  habitually  to  violate  the  law  of  God  in  the 
desecration  of  the  Sabbath,  and  still  maintain  a  high 
standard  or  morality.  The  universal  experience  and 
observation  of  many  years  in  this  connection  estab- 
lish the  fact  that  the  character  of  workmen  will  de- 
teriorate in  morals  in  proportion  as  they  negkct  the 
Sabbath.  The  men  themselves  may,  or  may  not,  be 
conscious — probably  they  are  not — of  the  effect 
produced  ;  but  still  it  is  none  the  less  certain  and  de- 
structive. And  they  seem  to  be  equally  unconscious 
of  the  fact  that  the  tendency  of  late  years  has  been 
to  keep  the  wages  of  laboring  men  down  to  the  very 
lowest  point  of  comfortable  support ;  and  in  many 
cases  they  have  been  reduced  so  low  that  only  with 
the  utmost  exertion  could  the  necessaries  of  life  be 
obtained,  especially  where  growing  families  have 
been  dependent.  The  result  has  been,  that  by  work- 
ing six  days  in  a  week,  and  three  hundred  and  thir- 
teen days  in  a  year,  honest  hard-working  men  have 
just  been  able  to  take  care  of  themselves  and  their 
families.  Now,  the  inevitable  consequences  of  the 
Sabbath-breaking  so  recklessly  engaged  in  by  these 
corporations  will  be,  first,  the  destruction  of  the 
morals  of  the  workmen  ;  and,  secondly,  the  estab- 
lishment of  such  conditions  of  labor  that  it  will  take 
three  hundred  and  sixty-five  days'  toil  to  secure  the 
same  comforts  of  life  as  are  now  procured  by  the 
labor  of  three  hundred  and  thirteen  days.  Hence 
t?ie  i^abhath-hreaking  covpoi^ations  are  the  v:orst  ene- 
mies of  the  working  man  ;  and  this,  equally  in  regard 
to  his  social,  moral,  and  religious  interests.  And  it 
should  be  added,  with  special  emphasis,  that  any 
system  or  institution  which  debases  thus  the  work- 
ing men  affects  in  like  manner  their  families.  Nor 
can  it  be  doubted  that  the  security  of  our  national 
future  and  the  continuance  of  our  present  form  of 
government,  to  say  nothing  of  the  success  of  the 


432  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

Christian  church,  depend  very  largely  upon  the 
social,  moral,  and  religious  status  of  our  working 
men.  Hence,  in  just  so  far  as  the  corporations  de- 
grade the  character  of  working  men  by  their  con- 
scienceless Sabbath  desecration,  they  are  the  enemies 
of  the  Republic. 

' '  II.  Again,  the  great  transportation  corporations 
under  consideration  constitute  one  of  the  greatest 
educational  forces  of  modern  society ;  and  it  must 
be  acknowledged,  that.  «o  far  as  they  are  related  to 
the  observance  of  the  Sabbath,  their  educational  in- 
fluence is  all  in  the  wrong  direction. 

"In  the  olden  time,  when  good  people  and  the 
community,  almost  without  exception,  laid  aside  their 
usual  employments  at  the  close  of  the  week,  and 
carefully  abstained  from  all  labor  on  the  Sabbath  ^ 
when  a  quiet  hush  settled  down  on  home  and  street, 
on  shop  and  farm,  every  child  conscious  at  all  of 
what  was  taking  place  around  him  could  but  feel 
that  he  was  brought  into  the  presence  of  the  divine 
command  which  produced  these  results,  and  almost 
into  the  presence  of  the  divine  Being  who  had  given 
the  command.  This  influence  was  felt  not  only  by 
the  children,  but  also  by  the  youth,  and,  in  fact,  by 
all  classes  of  people.  From  the  very  necessities  of 
the  case  the  minds  of  the  people  were  called  away 
from  worldly  and  secular  concerns,  and  all  were 
compelled  to  feel  that  there  were  moral  and  religious 
obligations  resting  upon  them  which  had  been  im- 
posed by  the  Ruler  of  the  universe.  The  quiet  of 
the  Sabbath,  and  the  cessation  of  all  servile  and  un- 
necessary labor  on  that  day,  were  moral  forces  for 
the  conservation  of  the  best  interests  of  society  which 
were  of  immeasurable  consequence. 

'  *  How  different  the  conditions  under  which  the 
people  of  this  country  are  placed  to-day  !  In  a 
thousand  towns  and  cities  may  l)e  heard  the  scream 
of  the  locomotive  and  the  rush  of   the  railroad  train. 


SABBATH    XND    SUXDAY.  433 

Steam-boat  excursious,  aud  other  means  of  Suiidny 
pleasure  travel,  are  abiintantly  supplied,  The  ordi- 
nary time-tables,  and  flaming  handbills  conspicuous- 
ly displayed,  announce  the  business  of  the  Sabbath 
with  the  same  particularity  as  that  of  ordinary  week- 
days. The  newspapers  advertise  Sunday  excursions 
with  as  much  regularitj'  as  they  do  the  services  of 
the  sanctuarj^ ;  and  they  give,  in  many  instances,, 
fuller  notices  of  Sunday  excursions  and  frolics  than 
they  do  of  the  sermons. 

"The  boy  living  on  the  hillside  farm  in  the  most 
rural  town  through  which  the  railroad  runs,  looking 
upon  the  Sabbath  trains  that  pass,  whether  freight  or 
passenger,  will,  unless  there  be  some  mighty  counter- 
acting moral  force,  gradually  and  imperceptibly  fall 
into  the  way  of  thinking  that  the  Sabbath  has  no 
special  sacredness  ;  and  the  end,  in  many  cases,  will 
be,  that  he  becomes  thoroughly  indifferent  to  the 
claims  of  God  which  demand  that  he  should  keep 
holy  the  Sabbath-day.  Let  this  same  youth,  thus 
perverted  from  the  right  and  good  way,  become  the 
the  father  of  a  family,  and,  if  his  wife  be  like  him- 
self, his  children  will  in  all  probability  grow  up  in 
practical  heathenism. 

"  ISTow,  the  same  influences  are  operating  upon  un- 
numbered thousands,  not  only  in  our  large  cities  and 
centers  of  population,  but  to  a  greater  or  less  extent 
all  over  the  country. 

"  The  Pilgrim  Fathers  left  Holland,  the  land  that 
had  protected  them  and  given  them  a  home  and  shel- 
ter, and  dared  the  perils  of  the  sea  and  the  wilder- 
ness, because  they  would  not  bring  up  their  children 
in  the  godless  society  which  surrounded  them  ;  but 
our  children  and  youth  are,  in  some  respects,  sur- 
rounded by  as  deplorable  influences  as  those  of  Hol- 
land. If  things  go  on  as  they  have  done  for  the  last 
twenty-five  years,  there  seems  to  be  great  danger 
that  we  shall  become  a  nation  of  Sabbath-breakers, 

(28) 


434  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

and  as  always  happens  in  such  cases,  an  immoral 
and  irreligious  nation,  and,  consequently,  a  nation 
upon  which  will  rest  the  frown  and  curse  of  Almighty 
God."* 

Treating  the  same  phase  of  the  question  under  the 
head  of  "The  Sabbath  and  Railroads  and  Steam- 
boats," Hon.  William  E.  Dodge,  of  New  York,  puts 
the  case  as  follows  : 

"Railroads  have  wrought  wonders  in  the  rapid  de- 
velopment and  general  prosperity  of  our  country 
during  the  last  half-century.  They  have  become 
the  great  highway  for  the  millions;  have  vastlj^  in- 
creased travel ;  brought  the  distant  parts  of  the 
country  together  ;  given  to  traffic  and  commerce  a 
new  impulse  ;  equalized  values  of  the  soil  and  manu- 
factory ;  made  a  journey  of  thousands  of  miles  but 
as  a  pleasure  trip  :  and,  with  the  aid  of  the  telegraph, 
have  enabled  merchants  while  residing  thousands  of 
miles  away  to  sell  and  buy  in  our  principal  coast 
cities,  and  even  fix  a  date  of  delivery.  They  are 
building  up  vast  centers  of  traffic  along  these  lines  ; 
have  added  untold  millions  of  wealth  to  the  country, 
and  are  increasing  at  a  most  rapid  rate  ;  and,  in  a 
few  years,  will  have  united  our  entire  country  with 
iron  bands.  They  have  become  every  day  more  and 
more  an  absolute  necessity. 

'  *  With  thousands  of  millions  invested,  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  our  citizens  employed  in  connection 
with  their  direct  management,  and  furnishing  the 
necessary  machinery  and  material,  and  with  the  vast 
number  of  stockholders  and  the  entire  traveling 
community,  their  moral  influence  is  beyond  calcula- 
tion. 

"  But  if  railroads,  with  all  these  wonderful  advan- 
tages cannot  be  conducted  without  changing  the 

*  Sabbath  Essays,  pp.  334-338. 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  435 

habits  and  customs  of  our  people,  and  trampling  on 
the  right  of  the  community  to  a  quiet  day  for  rest 
and  worship,  and  training  up  the  thousands  in  their 
employ  to  desecrate  the  Sabbath,  and  rushing  by  our 
cities  and  towns  and  quiet  villages,  screaming  as 
they  go,  No  Sabbath!  M  Sabbath/— then  they  will 
become  a  real  curse  rather  than  a  blessing.  Consider 
the  vast  sums  invested  ;  the  great  competition  of  the 
principal  trunk-lines  ,  the  constantly  increasing  de- 
mands for  rapid  passenger  trains,  and  the  press  of 
freight  to  the  seaboard,  becoming  every  year  laro-er 
particularly  that  bound  for  Europe,  much  of  it  sold 
for  shipment  by  special  steamers,  and  intended  so  to 
arrive  as  to  be  in  time  for  trans  shipment  at  once  or 
with  the  least  possible  delay  or  expense ;  parties  per- 
haps in  Chicago,  Milwaukee,  St.  Louis,  or  Cincin- 
nati—these having  been  made  ports  of  entry  and 
shipping  direct  to  all  parts  of  the  world— telegraph- 
ing the  superintendent  of  the  road,  'We  have 
shipped  to-day  twenty-live  cars  of  wheat,  or  perhaps 
ten  cars  of  live-stock,  which  are  to  be  delivered  to 
such  a  steamer  on  such  a  day  ;  and  we  shall  depend 
on  your  giving  us  rapid  transit  and  prompt  delivery  ' 
^ow  this  superintendent  feels  his  responsibility,  and 
by  this  continual  press  and  excitement,  which  the 
system  of  railroads  and  telegraphs  almost  of  necessity 
creates,  has  come  to  lose  all  thoughts  of  th(i  Sabbath 
or  perhaps  has  tried  to  convince  his  conscience  that 
these  long  lines  of  inland  transportation  are  like 
ocean  travel— not  expected  to  stop  on  the  Sabbath. 

"These  difficulties  are  constantly  increasing-  so 
that,  whereas  a  few  years  ago  the  running  of  freight 
trains  on  the  Sabbath  was  the  exception,  now  on 
many  of  our  trunk-lines  leading  from  the  West 
there  are  more  on  the  Sabbath  than  on  other  davs 
as  the  passenger  trains  are  generally  less,  and  they 
use  the  Sabbath  to  make  up  lost  time,  aud  hurry  on 
the  freight  to  the  sea-board.    The  constant  extension 


436  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

of  lines  west  and  north,  tributary  to  these  trunk- 
lines,  only  increases  the  evil ;  and,  unless  some 
prompt  measure  can  ])e  adopted  soon,  the  matter  of 
Sabbath  desecration  by  our  railroads  will  be  past  pre- 
vention. 

* '  In  regard  to  passenger  traffic,  there  is  very  great 
difficulty  in  drawing  the  line  between  entire  rest  and 
the  running  of  such  trains  as  the  general  public 
would  demand  for  long  or  through  travel,  trains 
for  the  carrying  of  the  mail,  and,  near  our  cities, 
milk  trains!^  If  our  railroad  managers  could  be 
made  to  feel  their  obligations  to  (^od,  to  the 
morals  of  the  country,  and  their  duty  to  their  em- 
ployes, so  as  on  these  long  lines  of  travel  to  run 
only  a  single  mail  train  each  way  on  the  Sabbath,  it 
would  of  itself  go  far  to  honor  God's  day  of  rest. 

"  The  fact  is,  the  railroad  interest  has  become  the 
all-powerful,  overshadowing  interest  of  the  country, 
and  ever  year  is  "adding  to  its  influence.  Railroads 
will  double  in  the  next  twenty  years  ;  and  what  is 
done  must  be  done  promptly,  or  their  power  will  be 
beyond  control.  The  question  of  the  day,  for  every 
man  who  loves  his  country  and  believes  in  the  im- 
portance and  value  of  the  Christian  Sabbath,  as  we 
in  America  have  cherished  and  honored  it — I  say 
the  great  question  is.  Shall  this  vast  railroad  interest 
be  so  conducted  as  to  prove  a  blessing  to  the  land  ? 
or  shall  it  defy  and  trami^le  on  all  ice  hold  dear,  and 
become  one  of  the  principal  instnimenis  in  cliangvng 
our  American  Sabbath  into  the  Continental  holiday? 
or,  as  it  is  fast  growing,  a  day  like  all  the  others  of 
the  week  ?  "  * 

After  detailing  some  efforts  that  have  been  made 
to  correct  the  matter  of  Sunday  trains,  Mr.  Dodge 
continues  in  these  words  : 

*  Sabbath  Essays,  pp.  ;342-345. 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  437 

' '  Our  great  cities  are  suflfering  from  the  demands 
of  the  foreign  population  that  the  Sabbath  shall  be  a 
day  of  recreation  for  themselves  and  families  ;  and 
in  some  of  our  cities  the  Continental  Sabbath  begins 
to  appear.  The  railroads  and  steam-boats  are  ready 
to  meet  this  desire  ;  and  now  thousands  crowd  every 
conveyance  that  will  carry  them  out  into  the  country 
for  a  holiday  ;  and  our  new  lines  of  elevated  roads  in 
New  York,  while  a  great  convenience  on  week-days, 
are  becoming  a  great  nuisance  on  the  Sabbath,  and 
are  run  for  no  other  reason  than  to  make  money . 

' '  Trains  are  rushing  up  and  down  our  avenues  as 
if  determined  to  wipe  out  every  vestige  of  the  Chris- 
tian Sabbath  ;  and  yet  the  men  who  started  and  now 
control  these  elevated  roads  are  men  who  pro- 
fess to  value  the  Sabbath  and  the  house  of  God. 
Very  recently  they  have  put  up  large  placards  ad- 
vertising with  great  prominence  that  trains  will  run 
on  the  Sabbath  regularly,  from  half-past  seven  in 
the  morning  until  half-past  seven  in  the  evening, 
from  the  Battery  to  Harlem. 

"A  few  years  since,  the  Sabbath  committee  ad- 
dressed a  communication  to  a  large  number  of  rail- 
roads, asking  to  know  if  they  ran  trains  on  Sunday, 
and,  if  so,  how  many,  and  their  experience  as  to  its 
being,  on  the  whole,  profitable  or  otherwise,  and  their 
views  as  to  the  necessity  of  running  trains,  and  par- 
ticularly common  and  frei£:ht  trains. 

*  They  received  replies  from  a  very  large  numbei-, 
sixty -five  reporting  that  they  did  no  work  on  Sun- 
day ;  others,  that  they  only  ran  mail  or  milk  trains  ; 
others,  that  they  did  as  little  as  possible  ;  and  many 
expressing  anxiety  to  stop  all  work  on  the  Sabbath 
for  the  sake  of  their  men.  The  general  excuse  of 
many  was  that  the  running  of  the  trunk-lines  and  com- 
peting roads  made  it  necessary,  though  they  would  pre- 
fer  to  rest  on  the  Sabbath.  The  impression,  on  the 
whole  was  favorable,  and  encouraged  efforts  to  se- 


438  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

cure  a  general  suspension  of  all  freight  trains,  and 
reduction  of  passenger  trains. 

"The  rapid  growth  of  the  railroads,  and  their 
danger  if  not  checked,  should  arouse  to  effort  ever}' 
lover  of  the  Pabbath.  What  we  do,  we  must  do  at 
once.  In  all  our  principal  cities,  influences  are  at 
work  to  undermine  and  secularize  our  American 
Sabbath.  Let  there  be  one  earnest,  united  effort  of 
God's  people ;  let  the  clergy  ring  out  the  danger 
from  the  pulpits  ;  the  religious  and,  as  far  as  possi- 
ble, the  secular  press  enlighten  the  people  as  to  the 
necessity  and  value  of  a  day  of  rest  for  the  working 
man.  Above  all,  let  there  be  constant,  earnest  prayer 
for  a  general  revival  of  religion  all  over  the  land, 
that  the  Lord  of  the  Sabbath  would  open  the  eyes  of 
the  nation  to  a  true  sense  of  its  necessity. 

"And  now  I  want  to  say  [throwing  aside  his  man- 
uscript] that  I  came  up  here  with  the  idea  that,  as 
Christians,  we  were  awake  to  the  fact  that  we  were 
just  on  the  eve  of  losing  our  Sabbath .  I  know  that  you, 
perhaps,  in  New  England,  in  your  quiet  villages,  do 
not  understand  it  as  we  do  in  the  cities — as  our  West- 
ern cities  do,  with  these  railroads  rushing  through 
the  towns  and  villages  everywhere,  and  with  their 
shops  at  work  on  Sunday,  and  with  every  thing  in- 
dicating that  this  gigantic  power  of  railroads  is  to  be 
increased.  For  it  is  but  in  its  infancy  to-day  ;  and 
when  it  shall  be  fifty  years  older  than  it  is  now,  un- 
less something  is  done  to  check  this  evil  to-day  by 
the  Christian  people  of  this  country,  it  will  be"  alto- 
gether too  late.  There  will  be  three  times  the  num- 
ber of  miles  of  railroad  in  twenty  years  from  now 
that  there  are  to-day,  and  there  is  a  monstrous  re- 
sponsibility connected  with  it.  It  is  not  only  the 
railroad  interest,  but  there  is  a  constant  let  ting-down 
of  the  Sabbath  even  by  Christians  throughout 
the  country.  We  must  look  the  difficulties  right  in 
the  face,  just  as  they  are,  and  ask  what  we  can  do, 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  439 

and  ought  to  do,  as  Christians.  What  we  want  to 
do,  friends,  is  to  fasten  on  the  Sabbath,  if  we  love  it, 
if  we  cherish  it,  if  we  want  our  children  and  chil- 
dren's children  to  enjoy  what  we  have  enjoyed. 
God  has  spared  my  life  for  more  than  threescore  years 
and  ten  ;  ^nd  I  look  back  to  the  quiet  village  in  Con- 
necticut where  I  was  brought  up,  and  I  cherish  the 
New  England  Sabbath,  and  I  hope  my  children  and 
children's  children  will  know  something  of  its  value. 

"But,  if  we  would  do  anything,  let  us  be  about  it; 
and,  above  all  things,  let  Christian  men  who  are  in- 
terested in  these  railroads  ask  themselves  the  ques- 
tion whether  they  can  properly  be  partners  in  con- 
cerns that  are  deliberately  breaking  down  the  Sab- 
bath. What  an  effect  would  be  produced  among 
our  Western  railroad  men  if  it  were  known  that  the 
New  England  Christian  men  and  the  New  England 
men  who  were  not  professed  Christians,  but  who 
loved  New  England's  quiet  that  had  grown  out  of 
the  Sabbath,  would  ask  as  the  first  question,  when 
they  were  called  upon  to  invest  in  a  Western  rail- 
road, '  Is  your  road  going  to  run  on  Sunday  ? '  and, 
if  the  answer  was  in  the  affirmative,  then  they  would 
say,  "I  don't  want  the  stock  !  "  Would  that  Chris- 
tian men  in  New  England  would  ask  themselves  the 
question  on  their  knees  before  God,  whether  they 
could  conscientiously  hold  stock  in  railroads  that 
were  paying  them  dividends  earned  by  breaking- 
down  the  Sabbath  !  I  think  that  many  of  them,  as 
they  offered  a  prayer  to  God  for  the  Sabbath,  would 
find  their  mouths  stopped  before  God  when  they  re- 
membered that  they  were  partners  in  these  gigantic 
companies  that  were  rushing  through  the  land,  and 
destroying  every  vestige  of  the  Sabbath. 

"  And  now,  one  thing  more.  God  lives,  Ood  lives, 
imd  God  hears  prayer.  If  you  look  back  over  the 
long  history  of  the  New  England  church,  you  will 
find  that  God  has  been  the  hearer  and  answerer  of 


440  SABBATH    AND     SUNDAY. 

prayer.  But  what  we  want  now  i.s  one  of  those 
old-fashioned  New  England  revivals  throughout  the 
length  and  breadth,  not  only  of  New  England,  but 
of  the  land  ;  and  if  Christian  men  and  women  will 
only  act  like  Christian  men  and  women,  and  hold  no 
cornmunion  with  the  works  of  darkness,  and  refuse 
to  be  associated  with  an  institution  that  will  dishonor 
the  Sabbath,  we  will  see  a  great  change  for  the  bet- 
ter. "* 

Be  it  remembered  that  the  foregoing  writers  are 
men  of  character  and  position,  religious  men,  deeply 
anxious  and  intensely  earnest  in  their  efforts  to  save 
the  Sunday  from  the  non  Sabbatic  influences  which 
are  at  work  in  the  United  States.  It  is,  therefore, 
certain  that  they  do  not  make  the  case  worse  than  it 
is.  It  is  also  significant  that  the  state  of  things  de- 
scribed by  them  exists  in  New  England,  in  the  cradle 
of  Puritanism,  at  Plymouth  Rock.  Nothing  could 
tell  more  forcibly  the  story  of  the  change  that  has 
already  obtained  on  the  Sunday  question  in  the 
United  States.  The  results  of  the  late  effort  to  cor- 
rect the  matter  by  appeal  to  the  civil  law  is  told  by  a 
recent  writer  as  follows  : 

' '    THE  SUNDAY  LAWS  OF  NEW  ENGLAND.  " 

' '  On  alternate  Sundays  during  the  past  summer  a 
small  steam-boat  left  the  wharf  of  a  certain  New 
England  city,  and  after  stopping  at  another  cit}^  made 
its  way  across  the  water  to  a  summer  resort  on  the 
coast,  returning  in  the  afternoon.  In  many  cities  in 
New  England,  in  a  great  many  out  of  New  England, 
such  excursions  are  of  common  weekly  occurrence, 
and  neither  excite  remark  nor  attract  attention,  but 

Sabbath  Essays,  pp.  353-356. 


.SABBATH     AND    SUNDAY.  441 

in  the  two  cities  from  which  this  boat  took  her  de- 
parture Sunda}-  excursions  were  almost  unknown, 
and  the  advertised  trips  of  the  boat  provoked  remark 
and  criticism.  The  blowing  of  her  whistle  and  the 
blare  of  her  band  grated  unpleasantly  on  some  unac- 
customed ears;  her  passengers  were  disorderly, and  too 
often  returned  helplessl}^  or  noisily  drunk.  Some 
citizens  remonstrated  with  the  proprietors  of  the 
boat,  but  the  excursions  paid,  and  the  boat  went  on. 
A  clergyman  in  one  of  these  cities  determined,  if  it 
were  possible,  to  enforce  the  law  which  this  steam- 
boat company  openly  violated.  It  is  not  the  pur- 
pose of  this  article  to  give  in  detail  the  progress  and 
result  of  his  undertaking.  In  one  of  the  cities  he 
failed  utterl}^  the  prosecuting  officer  refusing  to  en- 
tertain the  complaint.  In  the  other  the  case  was 
tried,  the  officers  of  the  boat  fined  and  they  are  now 
awaiting  trial  in  the  higher  court  to  which  they  have 
appealed. 

"  This  attempt  to  enforce  the  law  was  made  the 
subject  of  considerable  comment  by  the  press  in  New 
England  and  New  York,  and  with  very  few  excep- 
tions the  criticisms  were  hostile  both  to  the  law  and 
its  attempted  enforcement.  The  Sunday  laws  of 
New  England  were  stigmatized  as  blue  laws  and  an- 
tiquated statutes  which  the  world  had  outlived,  and 
the  instigator  of  the  prosecution  (or  persecution,  as 
it  was  frequently  called)  was  soundly  berated  as  a 
fanatical  oppressor,  or  mildly  sneered  at  as  a  clerical 
Don  Quixote  adorned  with  musty  statutes  and  worm  - 
eaten  law-books  tilting  against  the  established  enter- 
prises of  a  workaday  world. 

"  The  press  to  a  certain  extent  represents  public 
opinion  ;  that  being  the  case,  public  opinion  to  a 
certain  extent  must  be  adverse  to  some  of  our  Sun- 
day legislation.  To  show  what  public  opinion  as  to 
the  observance  of  the  Sabbath  was  the  Sunday  laws 
of  New  England  are  given  below  with  some  recent 


442  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

decisions  interpreting  the  law.     What  public  opinion 
on  the  subject  is  must  be  left  the  reader."  * 

Sunday  desecration  by  "Corporations"  and  by 
daily  newspapers,  in  1 884-5  towered  far  above  all 
that  1879  saw  and  mourned  over.  As  an  illustration 
take  the  following  facts  :  The  doors  of  the  stations 
on  the  Philadelphia  and  Reading  R  R.  (N.  J.  Cen- 
tral) were  first  opened  for  Sunday  traffic  in  the  spring 
of  1877.  The  road  then  ran  one  train  to  New  York, 
and  one  out  of  New  York  on  Sunday,  in  accord 
with  a  provision  of  the  statutes  of  New  Jersey. 
The  statute  remains  unchanged  ;  but  public  opinion 
and  the  demands  of  travel  have  changed  until  the 
time-table  of  that  road,  which  took  effect  Nov. 
16th,  1884,  at  a  point  twenty-five  miles  from  New 
York  shows  eleven  regular  imssenger  trains  running 
to  New  York  and  ten  running  out  from  that  city. 
Such  is  the  change  within  seven  years. 

Julius  H.  Ward  discusses  the  question  in  the  At- 
lantic Monthly  for  April,  1881,  at  length.  We  ex- 
tract as  follows  : 

"  THE  NEW  SUNDAY." 

"Sunday in  America  has  been  chiefly  the  Sunday 
of  England  in  the  seventeenth  century  transferred  by 
the  early  colonists  to  the  New  World.  It  has  always 
had  the  sombre  tone  of  the  period  coeval  with  Crom- 
well and  the  Puritans.  Though  colonists  came  from 
Europe  quite  as  freely  as  from  England,  and  brought 
in  the  rough  their  religious  institutions  with  them, 

*  Walter  Learned  in  "Good  Company,"  Vol.  4,  No.  2,  p. 
124.  1879. 


SABBATH    AND   SUNDAY.  443 

the  Puritan  type  of  tliought  was  stronger  than  the 
Anglican  or  Koman  t^^pe,  and  gradually  imparted  its 
color  and  tone  to  the  life  of  whole  country.  The  intel- 
lectual force  lay  in  the  minds  of  the  Puritan  gentry  who 
founded  Harvard  and  Yale,  and  the  severe  type  of 
religious  thought  characterizing  these  noble  ances- 
tors of  a  great  people  had  in  it  that  element  of  leader- 
ship which  gave  it  precedence  everywhere.  The 
strong  hands  that  nearly  choked  the  English  church 
were  not  less  powerful  in  a  country  where  they  could 
shape  institutions  at  their  will ;  and  in  communities 
where  the  rough  natural  industries  which  precede 
civilization  had  the  first  place  in  men's  thoughts,  the 
dominant  ideas  of  English  Puritanism  took  deeper 
root  and  had  a  more  positive  influence  than  they  could 
possibly  have  had  in  English  life.  The  nation,  in  its 
political  development,  is  greatly  indebted  to  the 
positive  force  of  these  ideas  ;  in  the  State  they  met 
with  a  counteracting  element  which  modified  and 
broadened  them  to  the  needs  of  the  whole  country. 
In  the  spiritual  realm  it  was  not  so.  There  was 
nothing  to  counteract  Puritanism  in  religion.  The 
grim  colonists  were  never  willing  to  hear  the  other 
side.  The  Quakers  and  Baptists,  dissenters  like 
themselves,  were  not  allowed  to  have  their  say  ;  nor 
the  Anglican  Christian  from  whom  they  sprang. 
The  narrowness  of  Puritanism  on  its  religious  side  is 
like  the  narrowness  of  Scotch  Presbyterianism  to- 
day— the  narrowness  of  the  fanatic,  the  unwilling- 
ness to  entertain  the  thought  of  another ;  and  this 
narrowness  has  been  transmitted  in  the  Puritan  Sun- 
day." 

"An  instance  of  the  way  in  which  the  "lord 
brethren  "  ruled  when  they  had  the  authority  of  the 
"lord  bishops,"  as  William  Blackstone  called  them, 
is  given  in  the  following  draught  of  a  law  intended 
by  John  Cotton,  the  minister  who  emigrated  from 
Boston,  in  Lincolnshire,  for  the  colony  of  Massachu 


444  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

setts  :  '  Whoever  shall  profane  the  Lord's-day  by  do- 
ing unnecessary'  work,  hy  unnecessary  traveling,  or 
by  sports  and  recreations,  he  or  they  who  so  trans 
giess  shall  forfeit  forty  shilling  or  be  publiclj' 
whipped  ;  but  if  it  shall  appear  to  have  been  done 
presumptuously,  such  person  or  persons  shall  be  put 
to  death,  or  otherwise  severely  punished,  at  the  dis- 
cretion of  the  court. '  These  extracts  indicate  suffi- 
ciently the  severity  of  the  Puritan  Sunday  when  the 
Puritans  had  things  their  own  way.  What  was  an 
act  of  voluntary  religion  in  England  was  here  en- 
forced, not  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet,  but  at  the  in- 
stance of  a  court,  in  which  the  power  of  life  or  death 
was  at  the  mercy  of  a  narrow  and  sensitive  con- 
science. 

•'  It  is  necessary  to  go  back  to  this  excessive  Sab- 
batarianism in  order  to  explain  the  present  reaction  in 
the  observance  of  Sunday,  and  to  indicate  the  import- 
ance and  true  position  of  the  day  in  our  present  life. 
The  protest  against  the  Puritan  Simday  is  now  univer- 
sal; even  the  recent  Sabbath  Essays — a  volume  as  can- 
did and  honest  as  has  ever  came  from  the  descend- 
ants of  the  Puritans,  intended  to  bring  back  the 
Lord's-day  to  its  rightful  place  in  the  religious  insti- 
tutions of  a  great  people — has  had  hardly  a  feather's 
weight  upon  current  opinion.  We  are  borne  to-day 
upon  a  tide  of  popular  sentiment  which  is  restless 
at  the  least  interference  with  the  principle  of  'do  as 
you  please  "  on  Sunday.  Public  opinion  is  in  a  state 
of  surge  and  unrest  for  which  there  is  no  precedent 
in  our  history.  The  old  Puritan  power  has  gone  ; 
the  old  Sunday  laws  are  a  dead  letter ;  the  ancient 
people  no  longer  carry  weight  in  Church  or  State  ; 
the  uncurbed  sentiment  of  a  wild  democracy  in  re- 
ligion dictates  the  Sunday  observance  for  the  coming 
generation  ;  and  we  are,  as  it  were,  at  the  meeting 
of  diverse  currents,  where  no  "church  of  the  essen- 
tials "  has  yet  acquired  sufficient  influence   to  take 


SABBATH    AND     SUNDAY.  445 

the  leadership  of  public  opinion,  as  in  England,  and 
where  the  State  silentlv  consents  to  the  ignoring  of 
existing  law.  The  extreme  of  reaction  from  the 
unreasonable  and  uncompromising  asceticism  of 
the  Puritan  Sunday  has  not,  probably,  yet  been 
reached,  but  the  temper  of  the  people  is  to  throw  ott 
all  allegiance  to  it.  _ 

"A  gi-eat  variety  of  agencies  have  come  to  lay 
claim  to  Sunday.    ^The  change  in  modern  society 
since  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century  is  not 
greater  in  the  range  of  morals  than  in  the  domain  of 
practical  science.     The  laws  neither  of  morals  nor 
of  science  are  different  from  what  they  have  always 
been    but  their  expression    and    application    have 
created  a  new  world  in  life  and  thought.     The  Sun- 
day laws  are  obsolete,  because  modern  society  has  gone 
outside  of  their  range.     They  were  intended  at  the 
time  of  their  adoption  to  forward  the   interests   ot 
Christianity,  but  their  rigorous  enforcement   to-day 
would  put  new  burdens  upon  the  laboring  classes 
and  thwart  the  best  interests  of  society.     They  are 
the  relic  of  that  union  of  Chu  rch  and  State  which . 
since  the  days  of  Constantine,  has  caused  Christianity 
to  depend  upon  secular  aid  for  its  support,  and  ha^ 
been  the  source  of  its  chief  corruptions.     The  pre- 
vailing theory  of  religion  has  been  that  it  could  not 
maintain  tself  without  State  support.     This  was  the 
view  of  the  Puritans,  with  whom,  as  ^vitli  the  peo- 
ple from  whom  they  sprang,  Church  and  State  were 
almost  convertible  terms  ;  or,  rather,  the  State  was 
simply  the  secular  arm  of  spiritual  power.     This 
idea  has  colored  American  legislation  with  reference 
to  Sunday  to  the  extent  that  in  South  Carolina  and 
Vermont    to  go  no  further,   attendance  upon  re- 
ligious worship  on  that  day  is  still   compulsory  ;  * 

*  Sundav  Laws.  A  paper  read  before  the  American  Bar 
Assoeiati6n.  By  Henry  E.  Young,  of  the  Charleston  Bar, 
1880. 


446  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

and,  even  where  there  is  no  compulsion,  the  opinion 
of  the  most  influential  religionists  has  so  largely 
controlled  the  social  usage  that  church-going  has 
been  strictly  regarded  as  a  mark  of  respectability. 
It  was  assumed  that  everybody  must  engage  in  cer- 
tain definite  acts  of  worship  on  Sunday,  and  the  au- 
thority of  the  assumption  was  unquestioned.  It 
was  the  secular  authority  behind  social  usage.  This 
gave  great  leverage  to  outward  Christianity,  when  it 
was  not  considered  decent  to  stay  away  from  religious 
services ;  and  this  old  tradition  of  duty,  the  Puritan 
church  directing  the  New  England  State ,  if  it  no 
longer  has  the  secular  power  of  compulsion,  is  still 
expressed  in  the  clerical-attitude  toward  the  com- 
munity at  large.  It  is  implied  that  the  attendance 
upon  religious  services  and  the  listening  to  sermons 
are  the  principal  duties  of  man  on  Sunday.  Preach- 
ing has  been  the  chief  act  of  Puritan  worship,  and  the 
Sunday  services  are  still  controlled  by  the  idea  that 
everybody  must  'go  to  meeting.'  It  is  as  if  every 
voter  in  the  commonwealth  were  a  church  member, 
and  the,  church  had  a  personal  claim  on  him. 
This  fiction  is  now  passing  away,  but,  quite  natur- 
ally, the  clergy  are  slow  to  see  that  they  have  no 
monopoly  of  Sunday  outside  of  the  people  they  can 
call  their  own.  The  last  act  has  at  length  been 
reached  in  the  tragedy  of  superstition  which  for  fif- 
teen centuries, under  the  dream  of  a  Christian  State, 
has  induced  the  leaders  of  Christianity  to  depend 
upon  the  support  of  secular  authority,  when  their 
true  strength  was  in  the  changed  minds  and  hearts 
of  consecrated  people.  A  strong  writer  has  said,  * 
'  The  greatest  triumphs  and  best  days  of  the  gospel 
were  when  the  States  were  all  heathen.  Christian 
"  virtue  gives  herself  light  through  darkness  for  to 
wade,"  and  can  hold  her  own  candle  better  than  the 


Rev.  Henry  N.  Hudson,  the  Shakespearean  scholar. 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  447 

State  can  hold  it  for  her."  This  is  the  point  to  which 
Christian  civilization  has  now  come  in  this  country  ; 
this  is  the  upshot  of  the  movement  for  the  taxation 
of  church  property.  It  is  the  return  of  the  Christian 
church,  after  all  the  centuries  of  its  abasement  at  the 
feet  of  secular  power,  to  the  old  principle  of  spiritual 
direction  b}-  which  the  gospel  of  Christ  first  con- 
quered the  world.  The  sooner  the  conviction  is 
reached  through  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  Am- 
erican States  that  Christianity  demands  protection 
only  to  the  extent  that  its  adherents  shall  not  be  dis- 
turbed in  the  enjoyment  of  their  rights  as  the  children 
of  God,  the  stronger  will  the  Christian  religion  be  in 
the  hearts  or  its  disciples  and  in  the  respect  of  an  ag- 
nostic world." 

******* 

"  The  trend  of  the  new  Sunday  is  in  the  direction 
of  a  healthier  and  more  persuasive  Christianity,  not 
wholly  nor  immediately  what  all  could  wish,  but 
enough  to  give  one  hope  of  better  things  in  store. 
The  escape  from  the  narrow  requirements  of  an 
earlier  day  may  for  the  moment  even  be  the  taking 
of  some  steps  backward.  To  see  social  and  religious 
changes  correctly  one  must  not  look  at  them  from  a 
local  point  of  view  alone.  The  larger  view  is  more 
correct,  and  the  larger  view  of  the  rapid  changes 
now  going  on  in  the  observance  and  use  of  Sunday 
Tanks  them  as  steps  in  the  wide  and  general  education 
of  a  free  nation  in  its  many-sided  responsibilities  to 
God  and  man.  The  way  is  in  preparation  for  a  larger 
and  more  important  work  than  Christianity  has  yet 
undertaken  among  us.  The  present  influence  of 
Sunday  is  to  broaden  the  Christian  conception  of  the 
possibilities  of  ethical  life,  and  to  uplift  mankind  on 
the  physical,  social,  and  intellectual,  as  truly  as 
upon  the  moral  and  spiritual  side.  It  is  the  part  of 
what  may  be  called  Christian  sagacity  and  states- 
manship to  recognize  the  facts  in  the  present  uses  of 


448  SABBATH    AND  SUNDAY. 

the  Lord's-day  for  wliat  they  mean,  and  so  change 
the  methods  in  religious  worship  and  instruction 
that  men  shall  not  be  without  the  range  of  the  spirit- 
ual renewal  of  life,  and  that  Christianity  shall  stand 
in  these  days  to  those  who  long  for  light  and  peace 
for  what  it  stood  in  the  first  days  to  Peter,  James, 
and  John."* 

Just  as  this  chapter  is  passing  through  the  press, 
several  important  testimonies  appear  in  the  public 
prints,  which  are  worthy  a  place  here.  The  full  re- 
port of  the  Massachusetts  Bureau  of  Statistics  is  not 
yet  at  hand,  but  we  have  collected  the  following  from 
the  public  journals.  By  these  it  will  by  seen  that  Mas- 
sachusetts, home  of  Puritanism,  and  of  strict  Sunday 
observance,  reveals  the  startling  fact  "  that  by  far 
the  chief  part  of  the  pressure  by  ichich  the  Sunday  cari^ 
were  caused  to  he  put  on  came  from  the  church  memhers 
and  church-going  people. " 

' '  Part  II,  of  the  forthcoming  '  Report  of  the  La 
bor  Bureau  of  Massachusetts,'  is  upon  '  Sunday  La- 
bor' in  that  State;  and  is  as  the  reports  of  that 
Bureau  always  are,  an  array  of  facts,  leaving  the 
discussion  of  the  moral  questions  involved  to  those 
to  whom  it  properly  belongs.  The  report  deals 
only  with  the  Sunday  labor  where  it  is  massed,  so 
that  there  can  be  some  breadth  to  the  facts;  and 
where  also  there  is  some  question  as  to  necessity  for 
its  being  done. 

"  By  far  the  largest  of  all  the  industries  in  the 
State,  in  which  Sunday  labor  is  systematically  done, 
is  that  of  the  railroads.  The  first  railroad  train  was 
on  what  was  then  the  Boston  and  Worcester  road. 
It  began  to  run  on  Monday,  May  1,    1834,  going  as 

*  Atlantic  Monthly,  April,  1881,  pp.  526-529.  and  p.  537. 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  449 

far  as  Newton,  seven  miles  out.  The  first  train  that 
ran  on  Sunday  was  on  the  second  road  built  in  the 
State,  the  Boston  and  Providence,  It  began  to  run 
on  Sunday,  September  14,  1834,  and  continues  sub- 
stantially to  this  day.  The  old  stage  line,  which 
this  road  was  displacing,  had  been  accustomed  to  go 
through  from  Providence  to  Boston  on  Sunday 
morning,  '  to  finish  the  trip  '  for  those  passengers 
who  had  come  from  New  York  on  the  Saturday 
night  steam-boat.  The  railroad  from  the  first  did 
the  same  (finished  the  trip),  and  does  to  this  day,  as 
do  all  roads  where  the  occasion  arises. 

"The  first  strictly  Sunday  train,  i.  e.,  one  which 
began  the  trip  on  Sunday,  was  a  daily  steam  boat 
train  on  ihe  same  road,  which  was  put  on  Saturday^ 
April  3.  1836,  but  which  only  continued  that  sum- 
mer 

"On  Sunday,  July  2,  1837,  a  Sunday  mail  train 
began  to  run  on  the  Boston  and  Worcester,  which, 
in  some  form  has  continued  ever  since,  except  in 
the  six  years, from  '47  to  '53,  during  which  period, 
so  far  as  can  be  learned,  not  even  a  mail  train  left 
Boston  on  Sunday  on  this  road,  except  when,  some- 
times, the  Cunard  mail-steamer  arrived  too  late  for 
the  last  train  Saturday  night,  and  a  special  was  sent 
through  to  New  York  Sunday  night.  But  in  May 
of  the  latter  year  a  Sunday  evening  New  York  mail 
train  was  announced,  which  still  continues ;  and 
that  train  inauguiated  the  present  era  of  Sunday 
trains. 

"  The  Sunday  mail  train  on  the  Eastern  road  had 
a  singularly  suggestive  history.  It  was  put  on  as- 
soon  as  the  road  began  to  run  in  the  fall  of  1838, 
and  continued  till  February,  1847.  On  the  last 
Sunday  of  that  year  it  was  hauled  off,  apparently 
because  it  did  not  pay,  it  being  understood  that  the 
management  of  the  road  gave  up  one-seventh  of  the 
contract  price  to  get  released  from  that  train  ;  and  it 

(29) 


450  SABBATH  AND  SUNDAY. 

is  told  in  Salem,  that  on  the  last  train  from  Boston, 
't)n  that  last  Sunday  afternoon,  no  passengers  rode 
but  employes  of  the  railroad.  Moreover,  for  many 
years  after,  even  all  during  the  War,  the  mail  be- 
tween Salem  and  Boston  was  carried  by  a  one-horse 
wagon,  there  not  being  travel  enough  to  pay  for  any 
kind  of  a  coach.  Indeed,  the  recent  era  of  Sunday 
railroading,  so  far  as  that  road  is  concerned,  did  not 
begin  till  June,  1872,  with  the  putting  on  of  the 
feangor  express. 

"  The  Sunday  'church  trains  '  were  begun  in  No- 
vember, 1850,  by  Mr.  Twichell,  of  the  Boston  and 
Worcester,  between  Brookline  and  Boston,  at  the 
urgent  and  long-continued  solicitation  of  members 
of  churches  who  had  lived  in  Boston  but  now  lived 
in  Brookline,  and  who  wanted  still  to  attend  upon 
'the  ministrations  of  their  Boston  pastors.  It  was 
twelve  years  before  the  next  church  local  was  put 
on  (on  the  Old  Colony  road),  and  now  for  more 
than  twelve  years  every  road  has  had  them  in  some 
form.  But  the  chief  point  of  the  matter  is,  that  the 
whole  system  was  begun  and  extended  by  church- 
going  people,  for  church-going  purposes ;  and  that 
from  these  church  excursion  trains  sprang  the  whole 
system  of  seaside  Sunday  excursion  trains,  now  so 
vastly  multiplied.  A  single  incident  illustrates  the 
"Whole  matter.  A  preacher  who  lived  out  of  town, 
in  a  village  on  the  Old  Colony  road,  had  an  oppor- 
tunity for  a  number  of  months  of  supplying  a  pul- 
pit on  the  west  side  of  Boston.  The  Sunday  local 
which  he  used  reached  the  City  at  lu.15  A.  M.,  but 
he  found  the  quarter  of  an  hour  to  10.30  too  short 
to  get  to  his  appointment.  So  he  wrote  to  the  proper 
railroad  oflScer,  asking  if  that  train  could  not  be 
run  in  five  minutes  earlier.  There  is  our  Sunday  ex- 
cursion system  in  its  germ. 

"For  some  jears  after  the  horse  railroads  were 
established  no  cars  were  run  on  Sunday.     The  case 


SABBATH   AND   SUNDAY.  451 

of  the  Cambridge  road  is  an  excellent  example.  It 
was  at  the  first,  and  is  yet,  oflScered  by  conscientious 
men  of  the  puritan  type,  who  believe  in  keeping  the 
Sabl)ath  holy  ;  but  they  were  forced,  after  six  years, 
by  the  conditions  of  the  life  of  society  in  which  they 
abode  to  yield  and  run  their  cars  on  Sunday. 

"  And  the  strange  part  of  it  nil  is,  that  by  far  the 
chief  part  of  the  pressure  by  which  the  Sunday  cars 
were  caused  to  be  put  on  came  from  church  mem- 
bers and  church-going  people,  who  wanted  them  run 
for  their  accommodation  in  going  to  church. 

"  Sunday  steam  cars  and  horse  cars  are  by  far  the 
largest  systematic  Sunday  industries  in  Massachu- 
setts, and  the  others  do  not  call  for  special  mention. 

"  The  investigation  brought  out  two  points  which 
may  be  expected  to  be  of  special  value  in  future 
discussion  of  the  Sunday  question,  and  which  ap- 
pear to  be  new.  One  is  a  classification  of  labor 
into  two  kinds,  according  to  its  objects  ;  the  other  is 
a  showing  of  the  effect  of  Sunday  labor  in  these 
two  classes  upon  the  health  and  wage  of  the  labor- 
ers.    The  classification  is  stated  thus  : 

'"Human  labor  is  performed  for  two  purposes, 
for  the  production  of  goods  and  for  personjil  ser- 
vice. In  the  first  instance,  it  is  applied  to  materials 
in  a  crude  state  for  the  production  of  things  in  a 
finished  state,  and  such  labor  may  be  classified  un- 
der the  general  head  of  productive  labor.  In  the 
second  instance,  it  is  put  forth  by  man  at  the  de- 
mand of  his  fellow-man  for  service  to  his  person, 
either  for  his  convenience,  his  amusement,  or  his  edi- 
fication, his  cleanliness,  or  his  general  bodily  wants, 
and  for  his  whims  ;  and  all  these  forms  of  labor  may 
be  classified  as  "personal  service."' 

"The  classification  being  established,  the  investi- 
gation of  the  Bureau  shows  a  very  marked  contrast 
in  the  effects  of  the  two  kinds  of  labor,  both  upon 
the  health  and  wage  of  laborers.     Concerning  the 


452  SABBATH   AND   SUNDAY. 

effect  on  health,  setting  the  brakeman  and  the  plow- 
man, the  horse  car  conductor  and  tlie  weaver,  in  con- 
trast, the  following  statements  are  made  : 

"  '  The  plowman,  during  all  the  time  that  he  is  at 
his  work,  has  his  muscles  all  asirain  ;  but  the  brake- 
man  does  not  use  his  one-tenth  of  the  time.' 

Again,  referring  to  an  actual  instance  of  a  horse- 
car  conductor  which  is  given,  it  says  : 

"  '  The  weaver  who  should  tend  his  looms  steadily 
for  a  thousaud  days  in  succession  would  probably 
break  down  completely  in  health  long  before  the 
time  was  past,  while  on  the  contrary,  the  horse-car 
conductor  goes  through  the  whole  term  without  los- 
ing a  day,  and  finishes  the  period  with  vigor  unim- 
paired.' 

"In  short,  all  that  was  learned  goes  to  show  that, 
what  with  '  days  off,'  which  are  generally  taken, 
and  the  nature  of  personal  service,  the  Sunday  labor 
done  in  the  Commonwealth  does  not  produce  any 
deterioration  of  health  tliat  can  be  discovered. 

"  A  corresponding  effect  is  shown  concerning 
wages.     The  Report  says : 

' ' '  When  systematic  work  for  the  production  of 
wealth  is  done  on  Sunday,  that  is,  when  the  worker 
labors  seven  days  in  the  week  in  the  production  of 
wealth,  there  is  a  powerful  and  probably  an  irre- 
sistable  tendency  to  break  down  the  rate  of  pay,  so 
that  the  total  amount  of  the  seven  days'  wage  will 
be  no  greater  ultimately  than  the  six  days'  wage 
was,  or  would  have  been.  But  where  systembtic 
work  in  personal  service  is  performed,  there  is  no 
such  tendency  to  break  down  the  daily  rate  of  wage; 
for  the  person  who  performs  this  class  of  labor  for 
seven  days  receives  a  full  day's  pay  more  than  he 
would  if  he  worked  but  six  days,  and  so  the  average 
day's  pay  is  in  no  way  d  minished.' 

"This  classification  and  the  results  drawn  from 


SABBATH    AND   SUNDAY.  453 

it  are  deemed  of  special  value,  and  it  is  believed  that 
they  will  have  an  important  bearing  upon  future 
discussions  of  the  Sunday  labor  problem  from  the 
economic  stand-point.  Of  course  it  follows,  as  the 
report  says  in  closing,  '  that  the  sheer  will  of  man, 
actuated  by  no  constraint  of  nature  nor  through  the 
selfish  motive  of  profit,  but  only  for  what  is  consid- 
ered as  some  human  convenience,  causes  all.  or  near- 
ly all,  the  Sunday  labor  in  Massachusetts/  * 

Equally  suggestive  is  the  following,  from  the  nen  of 
one  whose  opinion  commands  respect  in  all  circles. 

"  DECAY    OF     SUNDAY    OBSERVANCE    AMONG    CHRIS- 
TIANS." 

"Sunday  observance,  I  say,  instead  of  Sabbath 
observance,  for  I  wish  not  to  raise  the  Sabbatarian 
question,  even  in  the  association  of  a  word. 

"  I  began  and  I  end  what  I  have  here  to  say  with 
two  illustrious,  illustrative  instances.  For  the  sake 
of  being  strictly  non-partisan.  I  may  make  these  in- 
stances respectively  republican  and  democratic  in 
political  bearing. 

"  The  New  York  Tribune,  during  the  late  presiden- 
tial campaign,  told  the  country,  one  Mouday  morn- 
ing, that  Mr.  Blaine,  in  course  of  accomplishing  ihat 
magnificent,  that  unparalleled,  progress  of  his, 
started  from  Chicago  at  half -past  eleven  the  Satur- 
day night  previous,  and  reached  Jamestown  Sunday 
evening  at  ten.  '  There  were  no  demonstrations,' 
so  the  organ  informs  us,  'along  the  route.'  'Mr. 
Blaine  dt  sired  that  none  should  be  made,'  was  the 
comment  of  the  2'nburu. 

"  This  was.  in  that  '  large  utterance '  which  seems 
natural  to  the  reporter,  explained  to  be  '  on  account 
of  the  character  of  the  day.'    We  are,  of  course,  to 

*  Independent,  N.  Y. 


454  SABBATH    AND   SUNDAY. 

interpret  the  explanation  as  meaning,  not  because  the 
day  was  cold,  or  wet,  or  windy,  or  otherwise  unfav- 
orable in  'character,'  but  because  it  was  Sunday. 
Sunday,  then,  may  be  taken  still  to  have,  even  in  the 
view  of  a  reporter  attached  to  a  Sunday-issue-print- 
ing newspaper,  a  certain 'character,' simply  as  Sun- 
day. I  suppose  it  really  has,  but  at  the  rate  we  go 
on  now  it  will  not  have  much  longer.  Sunday  ob- 
servance is  a  fond  superstition,  a  relic  of  former  use 
and  wont,  that  is  fast  passing  away  from  among  us. 

"I  do  not  call  attention  to  Mr.  Blaine's  disregard  of 
Sunday  to  criticise  it.  His  disregard  of  the  day 
seems,  indeed — for  we  must  be  carefully  just — 
not  to  have  been  a  total  disregard.  Mr.  Blaine  re- 
garded Sunday  enough  not  to  compete  with  the 
churches  for  audience  at  this  point  or  at  that  as  his 
train  paused  from  its  roaring  rush  along  the  rail.  He 
only  disregarded  it  enough  to  travel  all  day  long, 
from  the  first  moment  of  Sunday  to  almost  the  last. 
I  say  I  do  not  refer  to  this  conduct  on  Mr,  Blaine's 
part  to  criticise  it.  I  simply  refer  to  it  in  the  way  of 
argument,  by  instance  or  illustration.  It  is,  forme,  a 
striking  case  in  point,  recent,  and  perhaps  not  too  re- 
cent. That  is  all.  It  exhibits,  for  it  exemplifies, 
now  the  decay  of  Sunday  observance. 

' '  It  would  be  grossly  unfair  to  treat  Mr.  Blaine's  use 
of  so-styled  sacred  time  as  a  thing  isolated,  excep- 
tional, singular ;  a  thing  on  his  part  in  contrast  with 
the  general  practice  of  good  and  accepted  Christians 
of  to-day.  This  is  by  no  means  the  fact  concerning 
the  matter  The  breaking  down  of  Sunday  observ- 
ance runs  along  the  whole  line  of  current  Christian 
behavior. 

"  It  did  not  occur  so  very  long  ago— at  any  rate  I 
vividly  remember  being  told  the  circumstance,  then 
very  recent,  by  a  member  of  the  (  hristian  household 
immediately  concerned — that  an  evangelical  '  pro- 
fessor of  religion,'  a  deacon  of  his  own  particular 


SABBATH   AND   SUNDAY.  455 

church — indeed,  the  president  of  a  great  and  famous 
society  of  distinctively  Christian  benevolence,  this 
distinguished  gentleman  being  at  the  time  a  tourist 
on  the  Continent — on  a  certain  occasion  used  his  Sun- 
day there  to  do  regulation  sight-seeing  with  his  chil- 
dren, active  teach-rs  they,  one  of  them,  at  least,  in 
the  Sunday-school  at  home.  Within  the  year  past 
another  distinguished  president  of  a  representative 
Christian  society  applied  to  me  for  information  that 
should  help  him,  hastening  from  the  anniversary  of 
that  society  at  which  he  had  presided,  to  get  home  by 
traveling  on  Sunday.  At  the  same  anniversary  at- 
tended a  devout  Sunday-school  superintendent  who 
starting  Saturday,  had  traveled  all  day  Sunday  to 
reach  the  place. 

"Now,  in  the  face  of  facts  like  these — and  from  my 
own  individual  observation,  I  could  multiply  them 
indefinitely — it  is  perfectly  plain  that  Sunday  ob- 
servance is  fast  coming  to  be  practically  a  confessed 
pious  fiction — a  fiction,  therefore,  that  cannot  con- 
tinue long  to  impose  on  anybody.  A  '  fiction '  (of 
the  pious  sort)  I  do  not  scruple  to  call  the  rule  of 
Sunday  observation  as  formally  professed  and  as  ac- 
tually broken  by  so  many  unchallenged  evangelical 
Christians,  in  all  our  American  churches.  It  is  a 
*  fiction  '  because  the  very  men  who  thus  freely  sec- 
ularize their  Sundays  themselves  will  often  be  found 
exclaiming  against  'Sabbath-breaking'  when  it  is 
done  in  certain  forms  by  others. 

"  I  do  not  now  criticise  anybody  for  failure  in  Sun- 
daj'^  observance.  I  simply  point  out  a  fact.  I  think 
it  IS  well  that  the  fact  should  be  faced  by  everybody 
concerned.  And  I  believe  that  everybody  is  con- 
cerned. The  fact  is  full  of  significance.  It  means 
nothing  less  than  that  the  institution  of  '  Sunday  ' 
is  fast  going.  The  'character'  of  the  day  is  with 
us  largely  a  mere  tradition.  The  tradition  fades 
daily.     It  is  pale  now  to  a  degree. 


456  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

' '  I  cannot  guess  how  serious  the  regret  really  is, 
and  by  what  proportion  of  average  good  Christians 
shared,  at  this  undeniable  decay  of  Sunday  observ- 
ance I  am  quite  inclined  to  think  that  what  regret 
exists  is  mostly  official,  or  else  a  matter  of  mere  tra- 
dition and  convention.  I  judge  so  from  the  easy 
conscience  with  which  ministers,  for  example,  use 
the  railioads  on  Sunday  to  go  to  and  fro  for  preach- 
ing appointments,  and  from  the  apparentl}^  uncon- 
scious proneness  of  any  chance  Christians  you  may 
meet,  for  example,  to  take  the  train  upon  occasion 
of  a  Sunday  morning  from  the  suburbs  to  the  city 
for  the  purpose  of  hearing  a  favorite  voice  sound 
out  from  the  pulpit  the  doctrine  of  the  creeds- 
preaching,  it  well  might  happen,  on  the  text  '  Re- 
meml)er  the  Sabbath-day  to  keep  it  holy.'  This 
freedom  on  the  part  of  the  flock  is,  of  course,  not  to 
be  wondered  at.  The  shepherd  himself — that  elo- 
quent preacher — will  perhaps  preach  the  same  ser- 
mon, on  the  same  text,  the  evening  of  the  same  day, 
to  a  congregation  forty  miles  distant,  reached  neces- 
sarily at  cost  to  him  of  Sunday  travel. 

"  There  is  no  need  to  accumulate  instances.  I  se- 
riously propose  a  question  :  As  long  as  the  state  of 
the  citse  is  what  we  all  of  us  perfectly  well  know  it 
to  be  respecting  Sunday  observance  among  Chris- 
tians, is  it,  can  it  be  useful,  for  us  to  talk  piously 
against  Sunday  newspapers,  Sunday  excursions, 
Sunday  concerts,  Sunday  opening  of  places  of 
amusement  ? 

"How  is  it  ?  Has  Sunday  still  left  among  us  trace 
enough  of  its  former  '  character'  to  have  inspired  in 
some  hearts  a  sentiment  of  shame,  disgust,  and  in- 
dignation at  the  screaming  profanation  of  the  sup- 
posed sacredncss  of  the  day  committed  by  the  ^ew 
York  IVihune  in  sending  out  those  yelling  and  tear- 
ing special  expresses  to  rend  the  quiet  of  Sunday 
mornings,  in  the  country  in  order,  forsooth,  that  the 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  457 

summer  residents  at  the  great  watering  places  might 
begin  to  secularize  their  Sunday  a  little  earlier,  and 
secularize  it  by  reading  that  journal  rather  than  any 
of  its  out-done  competitors?  Possibly;  but  this 
journalistic  enterprise  and  the  journalistic  braggado- 
cio which  so  flagrantly  proclaimed  the  triumph  next 
morning,  these  aie,  let  us  all  understand  it  well,  only 
the  world's  way  of  doing  what  the  church  itself  freely 
does.  With  what  face  can  the  church  exclaim 
against  it?  Is  the  church  sure  that  the  church  it- 
self bought  no  Tribunes  Sunday  morning  at  Saratoga 
or  in  the  Catskills  ? 

"Sunday  observance  must  be  revived  among  Chris- 
tians, or  the  institution  is  doomed.  And  the  doom 
is  ready,  even  now,  presently  to  crack.  I  know  noth- 
ing that  could  more  impressively  point,  in  conclu- 
sion, the  truth  and  the  timeliness  of  what  my  title 
implies  than  the  late  falsely  reported  fishing  excur- 
sion of  our  present  Chief  Magistrate.  This  report 
has  been  fitly  remarked  upon  in  the  editorial  col- 
umns of  The  Ghriiftmii  Advorate,  but  what  would  that 
fishing  excursion,  had  it  occurred,  have  been  but  a 
monumental  indication  of  the  current  decay  of  Sun- 
day observance  among  us  Americans  ?  "  * 

Tarrytown,  N.  Y. 

Prof.  Wilkinson  is  a  thoughtful  and  clear-headed 
writer.  The  facts  he  states  are  beyond  question. 
He  puts  forth  no  theory  as  to  the  cure  for  this  evil, 
but  it  is  easy  for  the  careful  student  of  history  and 
of  the  situation,  to  see  that  this  decay  is  the  result  of 
an  inherent  weakness  on  the  part  of  the  Sunday.  It 
came  into  the  church  as  a  festal  holiday.  It  was 
never  anything  else,  until  Puritanism  attempted  to 

*  Prof.  W.  C.  Wilkinson,  in  the  Chr-Mian  Advocate. 


458  SABBATH    AND    SUKDAY. 

transfer  the  authority  of  the  fourth  commandment 
to  it,  as  a  compromise  with  God  for  not  returning  to 
the  whole  truth,  and  the  observance  of  the  Sab- 
bath. The  Puritan  Sunday  was  developed  as  a  mid- 
dle ground  between  the  claims  of  the  Sabbath,  as 
pressed  by  the  English  Seventh-day  Baptists,  and 
the  prevailing  No-sabbathism  of  the  Romish  and 
English  churches.  The  "decay"  of  which  Prof. 
Wilkinson  writes  is  only  a  return  towards  the  nor- 
mal level  of  Sunday.  But  there  is  hope  when 
thoughtful  men  recognize  the  essential  fact  of  this 
decay. 

Thus  do  the  friends  of  Sunday  tell  the  story  of  its 
defeat  and  death  in  America.  We  might  add  the 
accumulating  facts  of  every  day,  making  the  picture 
still  darker  and  more  hopeless.  Enough  is  evident 
everywhere  to  show  that  the  foundation  on  which 
Sunday,  as  a  Sabbath,  is  reputed  to  rest  does  not  ex- 
ist. Unless  a  new  and  divine  authority  can  come  to 
its  rescue  from  the  Word  of  the  Lord  Jehovah, 
this  process  of  decay  will  hasten,  and  end  in  burial. 

We  cannot  close  this  chapter  better  than  by  adding 
the  following  from  the  pen  of  a  well  known  Presby- 
terian clergyman  of  New  York,  Rev.  Henry  J.  Van 
Dyke,  Jr.  He  writes  in  the  Independent  of  Oct.  15, 
1885,  as  follows : 

"  WANTED,  A  CLEAR  VIEW," 

"We  never  shall  get  this  question  of  Sunday  ob- 
servance rightly  settled  until  we  get  a  clear  and  con- 
sistent view  of  it.  The  trouble  is  not  that  Christian 
people  have  voluntarily  and  definitely  abandoned  or 


SABBATH    AND   SUNDAY.  459 

betrayed  their  principle ;  the  trouble  is  that  they 
have  no  principle  distintively  formulated  and  firmly 
grasped  ;  the  trouble  is  not  that  the  church  is  indif- 
ferent or  impotent  to  control  the  course  of  events ; 
the  trouble  is  that  she  is  very  much  mixed  on  this 
question.  She  does  not  look  it  squarely  in  the  face  ; 
she  does  not  take  hold  of  it  intelligently  and  with  a 
firm  and  earnest  purpose  ;  and,  consequently,  she 
does  not  act  with  unity  and  vigor.  What  we  need  is 
a  clear  vieio. 

"And  we  need  it  at  once.  For,  while  we  are  wait- 
ing and  talking  melancholy  sentiment  about  '  the  good 
old  Sabbath  of  our  fathers,'  and  drifting  vaguely  in 
the  dark,  the  question  is  settling  itself  in  a  very  prac- 
tical and  a  very  unsatisfactory  way.  Without  any 
serious  philosophic  or  moral  argument,  without 
even  an  attempt  to  investigate  candidly  the  teachings 
of  the  Scriptures,  the  amusement-mongers  and 
money-makers  are  taking  possession  of  Sunday  for 
themselves.  The  Sunday  newspapers  fly  everywhere 
on  the  wings  of  the  wind.  The  Sunday  trains  run 
all  over  the  land.  The  Sunday  whistles  are  blowing, 
the  Sunday  bands  are  blaring  and  squealing  and 
scraping,  the  Sunday  shows  are  open,  the  Sunday 
fishermen  are  casting  their  flies,  and  the  Sunday  hun- 
ters are  blazing  away  at  the  birds,  the  Sunday  shops 
are  crowded,  and  the  notices  of  Sunday  services  at 
Coney  Island  display  the  names  of  popular  divines 
to  draw  a  larger  patronage  to  the  Sunday  boats. 
Meanwhile  the  good  Christian  people  are  looking  at 
each  other  somewhat  blankly,  and  saying  :  '  What  do 
we  think  of  it  all  anyway  ?  What  is  Sunday  ?  a  civil 
holiday,  or  a  divine  institution  ?  an  ecclesiastical  ordi- 
nance for  Christians  only,  or  a  great  humane  provision 
for  the  wants  of  all  men  ?  How  shall  we  agree 
to  defend  it  ?  On  what  grounds  and  to  what  ex- 
tent ?  Shall  we  go  backward  or  forward  ?  Shall 
we    imitate    our    grandfathers   or   anticipate    our 


460  SABJ3ATH    AND  SUNDAY. 

fraadchildren  ?  And  how  far  backward  or  how  far 
orward  are  we  willing  to  go  ?  Has  this  question 
any  really  practical  importance  ?  Is  there  any  way 
of  deciding  it  ?  Are  there  any  fixed  principles  in- 
volved, or  any  genuine  statistics  available?' 

*'  You  sec  what  we  want  first  is  a  clear  view  on  four 
points : 

"1.  A  dear  mew  of  the  meaning  of  Sunday.  Is  it 
merely  a  ceremonial  day,  to  be  observed  for  its  own 
sake,  and  in  the  strict  keeping  of  which  there  is 
great  merit  ?  Or  is  it  a  day  with  a  deep  significance, 
and  a  high  mission  for  the  life  of  man?  a  day  without 
which  our  spiritual  life  would  shrivel  and  dry  up, 
and  blow  away  ?  a  day,  the  breaking  of  which  carries 
its  own  punishment  with  it,  and  never  fails  to  re- 
venge itself  upon  its  despisers  ?  Is  it  a  day  which  is 
to  be  observed  solely  by  ab&.taining  from  certain  em- 
ployments and  recreation  by  denying  ourselves  in  a 
mild  sort  of  ascetism  ?  Or  is  it  a  day  which  is  to  be 
observed  by  honestly  and  sincerely  endeavoring  to 
make  some  positive  advance  in  the  higher  life  by 
enjoying  to  the  lull  certain  privileges  ?  Which 
view  shall  we  take  ?  For,  if  we  are  clear,  how  can 
we  mix  them  ? 

"2.  A  clear  view  of  the  authority  of  Sunday.  Has 
it  nothing  more  than  custom  and  churchly  tradition 
to  enforce  it  upon  us?  Or  is  it  firmly  fixed  and 
definitely  declared  in  the  law  of  God  ?  Are  there 
only  nine  commandments  in  the  Decalogue  ?  Or 
is  the  fourth  still  binding?  Did  Christ  do  away 
with  the  necessity  for  a  sacred  rest-day,  or  only 
with  the  Jewish  Sabbath  ?  Does  the  Lord's-day 
really  rest  upon  the  fourth  commandment,  and  per- 

Setuate  its  spirit  ?    We  mvat  look  clearly  and  can- 
idly  at  these  questions  before  we  can  advance  a 
step  in  any  direction. 

"3.  A  dear  view  of  the  social  and  religious  import- 
anee  of  Sunday.    Is  it  altogether  a  matter  of  inherit- 


SABBATH    AND   SUNDAY.  461 

ance,  or  of  sentiment  whether  we  shall  follow  the 
Puritan  or  the  European  model  ?  Is  it  a  question  by 
itself,  or  does  it  involve  other  and  larger  interests  ? 
Has  it  any  bearing  upon  national  prosperity  and 
social  conditions  and  moral  developments  ?  Can  we 
trace  any  connection  between  the  secularization  of 
Sunday  and  the  decline  of  religion  in  Fr  mce  and 
Germany  ?  Has  the  observance  of  Sunday  as  a  day 
of  rest  and  worship  in  England,  and  Scotland  done 
anything  for  the  physical,  intellectual  and  moral 
welfare  of  the  people  ?  What  will  be  the  probable 
effect  upon  our  churches  and  benevolent  institutions 
and  the  spiritual  quality  of  our  people  at  large  if 
Sunday  becomes  a  day  for  money-making  or  merry 
making  ?  Surely  we  do  not  wish  to  take  a  medicine 
without  knowing  whether  it  is  likely  to  do  us  good 
or  harm.  We  need  to  cast  an  eye  toward  the  future, 
and  look  straight  and  square  at  the  practical  signifi- 
cance of  the  Sunday  question . 

"  4.  A  clear  view  of  the  best  way  to  protect  and  enforce 
the  '/bxervance  of  Sunday.  Is  it  to  be  done  chiefl}"  by 
the  State,  or  by  the  Church  ?  by  law,  or  by  example? 
by  outward  pains  and  penalties,  or  by  the  force  of  a 
general  moral  sentiment  ?  How  far  has  the  State  a 
right  to  go  in  saying  what  a  man  may  not  do  on  Sun- 
day ?  And,  above  all,  how  far  is  it  wise  for  the 
State  to  go  ?  Can  we  summon  any  more  potent 
force  than  has  yet  been  invoked  to  preserve  such  a 
Sunday  for  the  whole  community  as  we  honestly 
and  clearly  believe  it  ought  to  have  ?  Is  there  any 
power  to  this  end  now  latent  in  the  church,  which 
has  never  been  fully  called  out,  and  which  is  from 
day  to  day  becoming  more  and  more  dormant,  sim- 
ply for  want  of  a  clear  view  of  what  is  to  be  done 
and  how  to  do  it  ? 

"These  are  some  of  the  points  that  we  must  il- 
luminate and  elucidate,  every  Christian  for  himself, 
and  then  altogether,  as  unitedly  and  as  vigorously  as 


462  SABBATH   AND   SUNDAY. 

we  can,  for  the  whole  community.  The  simple  fact 
is  that  we  are  groping  and  drifting  aimlessly.  We 
are  allowing  men  whom  we  would  not  trust  in  busi- 
ness, or  philosophy,  or  morals,  to  settle  the  Sunday 
question  for  us  after  their  own  fashion.  We  are  to- 
day in  a  far  more  lax  condition  than  England,  and, 
in  our  large  cities,  at  least,  rapidly  going  beyond 
Germany.  We  good  folks,  who  dwell  in  our  ceiled 
houses  and  go  to  church  twice  a  Sunday  do  not  quite 
realize  what  is  going  on.  Are  we  willing  that  the  mat- 
ter should  take  its  own  course,  without  an  earnest 
effort  on  our  part  to  understand  it  or  do  anything 
about  it  ?  That  is  a  coward's  part,  and  an  imbecile's 
as  well.  It  is  high  time  to  awaken  out  of  sleep, 
every  one  of  us,  and  get  a  clear  view  of  Sunday — 
what  it  is,  what  it  will  be,  and  what  it  ought  to  be." 

The  picture  presented  by  Mr.  VanDyke  is  not 
overdrawn  nor  painted  in  too  lurid  colors.  The 
church  is  bewildered  and  "at  sea"  on  the  Sunday 
question.  Some  weakly  bemoan  the  state  of  things, 
with  no  results  beyond  the  sound  of  moaning. 
Some  clamor  for  the  execution  of  the  civil  laws, 
which  are  too  dead  to  hear  any  call.  Most  seem  to 
think  that  if  they  avoid  agitation  and  talk  in  a  gen- 
eral way  about  the  need  of  * '  better  Sabbath  observ- 
ance," the  question  will  settle  itself.  All  these 
methods  of  meeting  the  question  have  failed  to  check 
the  general  drift.  It  is  true  indeed  that  the  Chris- 
tian people  of  the  United  States  must  face  the  ques- 
tion squarely,  and  at  an  early  day. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

Elements    of    Agitation    now 
AT  Work  in  the  United 


P 


lATES. 


CONVENTIONS. 

The  probable  future  of  Sabbath  rpform  work  in 
the  United  States  will  be  better  understood  by  con- 
sidering what  has  been  done,  and  what  influences 
are  now  at  work.  Those  who  desire  to  pursue  the 
details  of  the  movements  in  the  past  more  fully  than 
our  space  enables  us  to  do,  are  referred  to  "  Sabbath 
Essays,"  published  by  the  Congregational  Publish- 
ing Society,  Boston ;  the  publications  of  the  New 
York  Sabbath  Committee ;  the  history  of  the  Sev- 
enth-day Adventists  since  1845,  and  the  history  of 
the  Sev«  nth-day  Baptists  in  the  United  States  for 
the  last  two  hundred  years. 

When  the  power  of  the  " Puritan  Sunday"  began 
to  wane,  and  the  tendency  to  holidayism  began  to 
appear,  the  earnest  Christian  men  of  New  England 
saw  the  impending  danger,  and  sought  for  a  remedy. 
The  earliest  effort  at  concert  in  consultation  was 
made  in  Middlesex  county,  Mass. ,  in  1814.     Thir- 


464  SABBATH   AND   SUNDAY. 

teen  towns  were  represented  in  this  convention ; 
Rev.  Justin  Edwards,  D.  D. ,  was  a  prominent  work- 
er. An  address  to  the  churches  of  Hampshire  coun- 
ty by  the  Northern  Association  had  been  issued  in 
1801. 

The  following  from  Sabbath  Essays  gives  the  out- 
line of  the  history  of  the  agitation  by  the  advocates 
of  the  Puritan  theory. 

"In  May,  1828,  in  New  York  City,  three  hundred 
delegates  met,  representing  fourteen  States  and  Ter- 
ritories. Those  present,  these  three  days,  declared 
they  *  never  witnessed  an  occasion  of  such  interest.' 
The  design  was  to  form  a  general  Sabbath  Union ; 
and  an  auxiliary  convention  met  in  Boston,  May  30. 

"A  great  Sabbath  movement  culminating  about 
this  time  was  the  Sunday  mail  agitaiion.  In  1810  a 
law  passed  requiring  Sunday  delivery,  which  was 
made  more  exacting  in  1825.  But  in  1829,  467  peti- 
tions were  presented  to  Congress,  deprecating  Sun- 
day mails.  Among  the  petitioners  we  find  Josiah 
Quincy,  Thomas  L.  Winthrop,  Samuel  T.  Arm- 
strong, Isaac  Parker  ((  hief  Justice),  John  C.  War- 
ren, M.  D.,  Robert  G.  Shaw,  Abbot  Lawrence. 

' '  In  May,  1830,  Senator  Frelinghuysen  presented 
the  subject  to  the  United  States  Senate  in  a  form  in 
which  we  trust  it  may  yet  be  agitated  successfully  : 

"Resolved,  That  the  Committee  on  Post  Offices 
and  Post  Roads  be  instructed  to  report  a  bill,  repeal- 
ing so  much  of  the  act  on  the  regulation  of  post- 
offices  as  requires  the  delivery  of  1»  tiers,  packets, 
and  papers  on  the  Sabbath  ;  and,  further,  to  prohibit 
the  transportation  of  the  mail  on  that  day." 

"  In  1840  met  a  'Bethel  and  Sabbath  Convention  ' 
in  Cincinnati. 

"In  1842,  July  20  and  21,  a  convention  of  great 
interest  assembled  at  Rochester,  N.  Y.     Three  hun- 


SABBATH    AND     SUNDAY.  465 

dred  delegates  were  present.  Their  pamphlet  of 
ninety-four  pages  contains  letters  from  Seward,  Fre- 
linghuysen,  and  Chancellor  AValworth.  Mr.  Seward 
wrote,  '  I  need  not  assure  you  that  every  day  s  obser- 
vation and  experience  contirm  the  opinion  that  the 
ordinances  which  require  the  observance  of  one  day 
in  seven,  and  the  Christian  faith  which  hallows  it 
are  our  chief  security  for  civil  and  religious  liberty, 
for  temporal  blessings  and  spiritual  hopes.' 

"The  year  1844  was  prolific  of  conventions,  in 
many  States.  Dr.  Edwards  was  a  prime  mover.  He 
was  Secretary  of  the  American  and  Foreign  Sabbath 
Union,  established  in  1843.  Jan.  10  and  11,  the 
Baltimore  Sabbath  Society  had  a  meeting  address- 
ed by  Hon.  Willard  Hall.  They  called  a  Na- 
tional Convention,  which  met  at  Baltimore,  Nov, 
27  and  28.  John  Quincy  Adams  presided  ;  and  he 
remarked,  '  So  far  as  propagating  opinions  in  favor 
of  the  sacred  observance  of  ihe  Sabbath,  I  feel  it  to 
be  my  duty  to  give  all  the  faculties  of  my  soul  ta 
that  subject.'  Dr.  Edwards  was  present ;  Chief 
Justice  Hornblower,  Walworth,  Freliughuysen,  sent 
letters.  The  pamphlet  of  eighty -two  pages  contains 
an  Address  to  Railroad  Diretors— quoted  from  the- 
New  York  Sabbath  Convention — also  to  canal  com- 
missioners, and  to  the  public. 

"The  same  year,  earlier.  May  30  and  31,  met  a 
State  Convention  at  Harrisburg,  Va.,  in  the  Legisla- 
tive Chamber.     Dr.  Edwards  was  present. 

"Aug.  28  and  29  assembled  the  New  York  State 
Sabbath  Convention  at  Saratoga  Springs.  Presi- 
dent Eliphalet  Nott,  D.  D.,  was  chairman  ;  Dr.  Ed- 
wards was  present. 

"In  1846,  Feb.  10  and  11,  a  Sabbath  Convention 
was  held  in  Frankfort,  Ky.  Rev.  Drs.  Edwards, 
and  Scudder  of  India,  were  there. 

"  Two  years  later,  in  1848,  March  23  and  24,  an 
Anti-Sabbath  Convention  met  in  Boston  at  the  Melo- 

(30) 


466        '         SABBATH    AND   SUNDAY. 

deou.  The  call  was  from  Garrison,  the  Jacksons, 
Parker,  and  others.  Men  of  other  opinions  spoke. 
They  opposed  Sabbath  laws,  yet  their  address  says, 
'  A  day  of  rest  from  bodily  toil,  both  for  man  and 
beast,  is  not  only  desirable,  hut  indispensable.  They 
need  more,  and  inust  have  frtm^e  instead  of  le8f>  rest. ' 
A  meeting  of  the  Free  Religious  Association  in  1877 
produced  four  addresses,  '  How  shall  we  keep  Sun- 
day?' 

"  In  1857,  commenced  a  really  great  organization, 
permanent  in  power  and  usefulness,  the  '  New  York 
Sabbath  Committee,'  which  has  restrained  Sabbath 
desecration  in  New  York  City,  pursued  investiga- 
tions on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic,  and  published 
valuable  documents.  For  twenty-two  years  they 
have  continued  their  'unobtrusive  but  persevering 
labors.' 

"A  similar  societ}',  the  'Maryland  Sabbath  Asso- 
ciation,' was  organized  in  1867.  Its  twelfth  report 
shows  a  grand  work  in  the  face  of  opposition. 

"A  younger  organization  (1878),  the  '  International 
Sabbath  Association '  of  Philadelphia,  has  the  motto, 
'  Organization,  Co-operation,  Devotion,  and  Contin- 
uance.' 

"In  1863,  Aug.  11,  12  and  13,  a  National  Con- 
vention met  at  Saratoga  Springs.  Nearly  all  the 
loyal  States  were  represented.  Norman  White, 
Esq.,  Hon.  G.  H.  Stuart  and  Hon.  William  E.  Dodge 
made  addresses.  Valuable  papers  were  presented  : 
by  Dr.  Schaff ,  *  The  Anglo  American  Sabbath ; '  bv 
Willard  Parker,  M.  D.,  '  The  Sabbath  in  its  Physiolog- 
ical Relations  to  Man;'  by  Rev.  H.  B.  Smith,  D. 
D.,  '  The  Philosophy  of  the  Sabbath  ; '  and  by  Rev. 
President  Mark  Hopkins,  D.  D.,  '  The  Sabbath  and 
Free  Institutions.' "  * 

The  volume  of  essays  quoted  above  is  made  up  of 
*  Sabbath  Essays,  pp.  434-437. 


SABBATH    AND   SUNDAY.  46? 

papers  presented  at  two  conventions  held  in  Massa- 
chusetts in  1879. 

These  Massachusetts  "  Sabbath  Conventions"  had 
their  inception  in  the  Evangelical  Ministers'  Associa- 
tion of  Boston  and  vicinity,  familiarly  called  the 
'  *  Alliance. " 

In  January,  1879,  the  Alliance  resolved  to  hold 
these  conventions. 

The  committee  appointed  early  put  themselves  into 
communication  with  the  pastors  of  Springfield,  who 
heartily  entered  into  the  plan,  and  appointed  an  eflS- 
cient  committee  of  co-operation. 

Besides  the  eminent  writers  secured,  many  dis- 
tinguished persons  were  invited,  who  could  not  at- 
tend, among  them  Gen.  Hawley,  whose  noble  word 
is  worth  a  hundred  speeches  :  "Before  God,  I  am 
afraid  to  open  the  Centennial  gates  on  the  Sab 
bath." 

A  "Statement  of  Principles,"  drawn  up  by  Rev. 
W.  W.  Atterbury,  Secretary  of  the  New  York  Sab- 
bath Committee,  was  sent  out  in  letters  missive,  as  the 
basis  of  the  convention. 

"STATEMENT   OP   PRINCIPLES." 

"  The  convention  is  called  on  the  following  basis, 
and  will  consider  onl}^  questions  directly  relevant 
thereto.  The  statement  appended  will  be  read  at 
the  opening  of  the  convention,  and  will  be  voted 
upon  at  the  close  of  the  second  day's  morning  ses 
sion : 

''First. — We  hold  the  Sabbath,  or  weekly  rest- 
day,  as  founded  by  the  Creator  in  the  constitution 
of  man,  as  embodied  in  the  fourth  commandment  of 
the  Decalogue,  as  recognized  and  confirmed  by  our 


468  SABBATH  AND  SUNDAY. 

Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  as  reappearing  with  new 
spiritual  significance  in  the  Lord  s-day  of  the  Chris- 
tian Church. 

'_*  We  aim  to  promote  among  Christians  the  sense 
of  its  divine  authority,  and  the  more  conscientious 
observance  of  it  against  the  influences  which  now 
prevail  to  secularize  it. 

"Second. — While  the  State  cannot  and  should  not 
enforce  or  interfere  with  the  religious  observance  of 
the  Sabbath,  yet  the  weekly  resl-day  exists  also  as  a 
ciml  ifistitution,  maintained  by  law  and  custom  from 
the  beginning  of  our  history,  and  vitally  related 
to  the  well-being  of  individuals  and  of  society,  and 
to  the  stability  of  our  free  institutions. 

"We  aim  io  promote  among  our  fellow-citizens  of 
all  classes  such  a  true  understanding  of  its  value  to 
themselves,  to  their  families,  and  to  the  State,  as  will 
lead  them  to  resist  whatever  tends  to  deprive  them 
of  it,  and  to  sustain  the  just  laws  which  protect  their 
right  to  it. 

"  We,  therefore,  as  representatives  of  the  evangeli- 
cal churches  of  Massachuseits,  affirm  the  foregoing 
principles,  and  pledge  ourselves  more  faithfully  to 
teach  and  observe  the  religious  Sabbath,  and  more 
watchfully  and  strenuously  to  maintain  against  all 
encroachments  the  civil  Sabbath,  as  a  principal  cause 
of  the  intelligence,  freedom,  security,  and  happiness 
of  our  beloved  Commonwealth."  * 

The  Springfield  Convention  comprised  the  evangel- 
ical churches  west  of  Worcester  county.  Its  ses- 
sions were  held  Oct.  15  and  16,  in  State-street  Baptist 
Church.  .  .  .  The  convention  was  "  Notable  in  the 
number  and  reputation  of  the  clergymen  present." 
.  .  .  President  J.  H.  Seelye,  D.  D.,  of  Amherst  Col- 
lege ;  made  an  extemporaneous  opening  address,  and 

*  Sabbath  Essays,  p.  430. 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  469 

papers  were  read  successively  by  Rev.  Messrs.  At- 
terbury,  Thomas,  Bacon,  Gordon,  Peck,  Smyth, 
King  and  Love.  The  Springfield  committee  con- 
sidered their  meeting  a  grand  success. 

The  Eastern  convention  met  at  Boston  the  next 
week,  Oct.  21  and  22.  Eleven  hundred  letters  were 
sent ;  but  many  churches  were  unrepresented. 

The  sessions  of  this  convention  occupied  two 
days  and  evenings.  The  "  Statement  of  Principles" 
was  adopted  unanimously,  as  it  had  been  at  Spring- 
field, by  rising  vote. 

It  was  also  resolved, — 

"  That  a  committee  of  thirteen  be  appointed  as  the 
State  Standing  Committee  on  Sabbath  Ohservance, 
whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  procure  the  appointment  of 
a  similar  committee  in  each  town  of  the  Common- 
wealth, which,  together  with  the  central  committee, 
shall  constitute  a  Sabbath  League,  to  take  such  meas- 
ures from  lime  to  time  as  shall  seem  to  them  neces- 
sary and  feasible  for  the  better  maintenance  of  the 
Lord's-day." 

This  committee  soon  issued  the  following  : 

"CIRCULAR." 

"  The  'Committee  of  Thirteen,'  who  publish  this 
document,  were  appointed  by  the  Boston  Sabbath 
Convention,  Oct.  2i,  1879,  to  be  known  as  the  '  State 
Standing  Committee  on  the  Observance  of  the  Sab- 
bath' and  the  head  center  of  a  State  Sabbath 
League  to  be  duly  formed. 

"As  a  basis  of  operation  and  co-operation,  they 
awaited  the  discussion  in  January,  1880,  before  the 
'Evangelical  Ministers'  Association  of  Boston  and 
Vicinity'  of  the  question,  '  What  is  just,  wise  and 
humane  to  insist  upon,  at  present,  in  the  execution 


470  SABBATH    AND   SUNDAY. 

of  our  Sunday  laws?'  The  points  presented,  by  a 
committee,  of  which  Judge  E.  H.  Bennett,  of  Boston 
University,  was  chairman,  were  unanimously  en- 
dorsed by  the  Association,  by  a  standing  vote  of 
some  three  hundred  ministers  present. 

"  We  present  them  to  the  public  in  a  slightly  mod- 
ified form,  as  our  basis  of  operation, 

"  We  do  not,  hereby,  imply  desire  for  change  in  our 
Sunday  laws  ;  we  only  give  prominence  and  empha- 
sis to  the  points  indicated. 

"  We  invite  co-operation  on  this  basis  ;  we  solicit 
the  attention  of  fair-minded  citizens  to  our  wholesome 
laws  securing  their  right  to  one  day  of  rest  in  seven  ; 
we  urge  violators  of  Sunday  laws  to  observe  these 
just  demands  ;  we  request  magistrates  and  officials 
to  execute  these  laws." 

"  SIX  POINTS:  " 

"  Bam  of  Operation  and  Co-operation." 

"  I.  Under  General  Statutes,  Chapter  84.  sections  1 
and  3,  the  absolute  legal  right  of  every  employe  of 
corporation  or  individual  to  the  rest  of  the  entire 
Lord's-day.  We  desire  to  call  the  attention  of  em- 
ployes throughout  the  State  to  their  legal  right  to  a 
Sabbath  free  from  call,  order  or  v;ommand  of  em- 
ployer, corporate  or  individual,  and  free  from  liabil- 
ity to  discharge  or  diminution  of  wages  for  non-per- 
formance of  Sunday  work. 

"  We  call  the  attention  of  railroads,  manufactories 
and  other  corporations  to  the  fact  that  in  demanding 
Sunday  labor  they  infringe  law,  oppress  labor,  and 
demand  and  expect  what  they  have  no  legal  right  to 
require,  work  when  the  law  secures  rest  to  men  in 
their  employ. 

"II.  Under  c.  84,  s.  2,  the  stopping  of  all  Sunday 
passenger  trains,  except  from  considerations  of  neces- 
sity and  charity. 


SABBATH    AND   SUNDAY.  471 

"  Under  c.  84,  s.  2,  the  stopping  of  all  excursion 
trains  whatever. 

'  •  Under  c.  84,  s.  2,  the  stopping  of  all  freight  trains 
whatever  within  the  limits  of  the  Commonwealth  in 
whatsoever  place  they  may  happen  to  be  at  sunrise 
of  the  Lord's-day. 

"  Under  c.  84,  s.  1,  the  stopping  of  all  work  in  rail- 
road shops. 

' '  Under  c.  84 ,  s.  1 ,  the  stopping  of  all  railroad  work 
in  making  repairs,  building  bridges,  etc,  on  Sunday. 

"III.  Under  c.  84,  s.  1,  the  stopping  of  the  Sunday 
issue  of  papers,  magazines,  etc. 

"Under  c.  84,  s.  1,  the  stopping  of  the  sale,  by  pub- 
lishers, newsboys,  store  keepers  or  carriers,  of 
papers,  magazines,  etc. 

"IV.  Under  c.  84,  s.  1,  the  stopping  of  all  sales  of 
mechandise  on  the  Lord's  day ;  including  wares, 
fruits,  confectionery,  cigars,  tobacco  and  intoxicat- 
ing liquors ;  excepting  for  necessity  and  charity, 
medicines,  and  until  nine  o'clock  A.  M.,  milk, 
bread,  and  other  cooked  eatables. 

"  V.  Under  c.  84,  s.  4.  the  stopping  of  all  Sunday 
evening  entertainments  except  '  concerts  of  sacred 
music. ' 

"  VI.  Under  c.  84,  s.  1,  the  stopping  of  all  games  of 
ball  or  other  sports  in  streets  of  the  town  or  fields  of 
the  country." 

Up  to  the  present  date  we  have  not  been  able  to 
learn  that  this  committee  has  accomplished  any  defi- 
nite results.  The  topics  discussed  at  these  conven- 
tions covered  a  wide  range.  They  form  the  fullest 
and  most  able  presentation  of  the  question  from  the 
Puritan  stand-point  which  has  been  made  during 
this  century.  The  effect  of  the  conventions  on  the 
public  mind  seems  to  have  been  very  slight.     Sun- 


472  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

day  desecration  has  gone  on  in  a  steadily  increasing 
ratio. 

The  Boston  correspondent  of  the  Christian   Union 
«of  July  10,  1884,  speaks  as  follows  : 

"  If  you  seek  for  Boston  society  now,  you  will  find 
it  scattered  along  the  coast  from  Mount  Desert  to 
.Cape  Cod  ;  in  the  moumains,  at  hotels  and  boarding- 
houses,  and  on  farms  ;  in  ocean  steamers  and  foreign 
lands.  Yet  there  is  a  large  population  left,  the  large 
.class  that  holds  society  together  by  its  daily  toil,  and 
which  can  snatch  but  a  week  or  two  for  an  outing, 
iiarge  numbers  of  this  cIhss  go  into  the  country  or 
.down  the  harbor  on  Sundaj^s ;  the  hor.se-cars  into 
suburban  places  being  compelled  to  transport  unusual 
^lumbers.  Some  of  ilie  routes  run  two  cars  at  a  time. 
In  groves,  b}^  lake-sides,  along  the  coasts,  many 
thousands  are  abroad  breathing  the  fresh  air  and 
joaming  in  nature.  Those  in  city-returning  cars 
jhave ,  beautiful  bouquets  and  sprigs  of  fern  and  f oli- 
•.age.  It  is  noticeable,  also,  that  many  country  peo- 
iple  come  into  the  city  on  Sunday;  some  attend  church; 
.others  roam  in  the  public  garden,  or  the  Common, 
find  frequent  places  that  they  know,  and  whilher  their 
affiliations  draw  them.  I  am  not  now  moralizing  or 
philosophizing,  but  stating  facts.  Driving  on  Sun- 
day is  weYj  common  ;  families  who  worship  in  ele- 
gant churches  drive  in  the  afternoon,  many  of  them 
while  the  larger  numbers  who  drive  for  recreation, 
fearless  of  God  and  disregarding  man,  swell  the  num- 
bers to  troops  on  the  fashionable  highways.  Say 
what  you  may  on  the  Sunday  questi<m,  tlie  strictly 
Puritan  Sunday  does  not  belong  to  the  Boston  of  to- 
day." 

"  SABBATH   COMMITTEES." 

"  Sabbath  Committees  "  are  now  organized  in  the 
following  cities :  Minneapolis  and  St.  Paul,  in  Min- 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  473 

nesota,  Chicago,  111.,  Cleveland,  Ohio,  Louisville. 
Ky.,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  Baltimore,  Md.,  Boston. 
Mass. ,  and  in  a  few  smaller  cities,  and  an  "Alli- 
ance "  for  the  State  of  New  Jersey.  The  most  vigor 
ous  of  these  is  the  New  York  Committee.  Concern- 
ing its  aims  and  work,  we  extract  the  following  state- 
ments from  its  Documents : 

"  OBJECTS  AND  POLICY  OF  THE  COMMITTEE," 

"  The  New  York  Sabbath  Committee,  while  recog- 
nizing the  paramount  importance  of  the  religious 
observance  of  the  Lord's-day,  have  to  do  with  the 
day  of  rest  chiefly  as  a  civil  institution,  established 
by  national  custom  and  law  and  vitally  connected 
with  the  preservation  of  our  free  institutions  and  the 
rights  and  liberties  of  all  classes.  They  stand  here 
on  ground  on  which  all  American  Christians,  with- 
out distinction  of  denomination  or  party,  are  in  sub- 
stantial agreement.  They  disclaim  all  compulsion  in 
matters  of  conscience,  all  wish  to  make  men  relig- 
ious by  law.  They  recognize  the  separation  of 
Church  and  State,  and  the  freedom  of  religion  which 
our  government  assures,  as  a  blessing  beyond  all 
price,  to  be  most  jealously  guarded.  But  they  re- 
gard it  also  as  the  right  and  duty  of  the  State  to  pro- 
tect by  law  the  good  health  and  morals  and  social 
order  of  the  community ;  and  also  to  secure  to  the 
Christian  pt  ople,  who  constitute  its  large  majority, 
the  enjoyment  of  their  right  to  undisturbed  wor- 
ship. 

"On  these  grounds,  from  the  very  beginning  of  oiu- 
history,  the  Sabbath  has  been  maintained  by  appro- 
priate legislation.  The  State  separates  Sunday  from 
all  other  days  of  the  week  as  a  day  of  rest  and  quiet. 
It  puts  the  hand  of  its  powerful  protection  between 
the  laborer  and  that  exacting  spirit  of  gain,  which 
would  otherwise  compel  him  to  the  weary  round  of 


474  SABBATH     AND    SUNDAY. 

seven  days  of  weekly  toil ;  and  so  secures  to  him  at 
least  one  day  for  the  rest  of  his  body,  for  the  im- 
provement of  his  mind  and  heart,  and  home  in- 
tercourse, 

"The  Committee  aim  to  secure  the  enforcement  of 
just  and  wise  laws  by  which  the  day  is  protected,  to 
oppose  unfavorable  legislation  and  other  hostile  in- 
fluences, and  by  the  use  of  the  press,  the  circulation 
of  documents,  addresses,  sermons,  and  by  other  pru- 
dent and  practicable  means,  to  enlighten  the  public 
sentiment  and  to  preserve  to  all  classes,  so  far  as  pos- 
sible, the  benefits  of  the  Sunday  rest.'"  * 

Religiously  considered,  the  above  is  by  far  too  low 
a  standard.  Still,  no  higher  ground  can  be  taken,  so 
long  as  "  Sabbath  Reform  "  is  defined  as  being  a  bet- 
ter enforcement  of  the  Sunday  law,  for  the  protec- 
tion of  ' '  the  good  health  and  morals  and  social  or- 
der of  the  community."  As  a  moral  and  religious 
power,  such  a  platform  is  of  little  account.  It  does 
not  touch  the  real  issue  of  Sabbath-keeping,  and  of 
permanent  reform.  As  an  element  of  agitation,  its 
immediate  effect,  if  the  platform  be  carried  out,  is 
more  widely  felt,  since  it  comes  in  contact  with  the 
habits  and  choices  of  the  irreligious,  more  than  a 
merely  religious  discussion  would.  On  the  other 
hand,  this  low-ground  issue  tends  to  delay  the  final 
and  more  important  question,  viz.,  whether  Sunday 
has  any  ground  for  claiming  to  be  the  Sabbath. 

Document  No.  48,  of  the  publications  of  the  New 
York  Committee,  contains  a  review  of  the  work  of 
that  Committee  from  its  organization,  1857  to  1883, 

*  Document  No.  44,  Report  of  1877-1879. 


SABBATH     AKD    SUNDAY.  475 

a  period  of  twenty -five  years.  The  platform  on  which 
its  work  has  been  prosecuted  is  set  forth  as  follows  : 

"While  the  Committee  held  most  fully  the  divine 
obligation  and  paramount  importance  of  the  religious 
observance  of  the  Lord's-daj^  it  felt  itself  called  to 
deal  chiefly  with  the  observance  of  Sunday  as  a  civil 
Institution,  established  and  protected  by  custom  and 
law.  It  sought  to  discriminate  carefully  between  the 
Sabbath  as  a  religious  and  as  a  civil  institution,  and 
jealously  to  respect  the  just  limitations  of  the  civil 
power  in  maintaining  the  observance  of  the  rest  day. 
Recognizing  the  object  of  our  Sunday  laws  to  be  the 
protection  of  the  sacred  rights  of  rest  and  worship,  the 
Committee  aimed  to  secure  the  wise  enforcement  of 
existing  laws,  the  enactment  of  such  additional  laws 
as  might  seem  necessary  to  the  end  in  view,  and  the 
prevention  of  hostile  legislation.  It  sought  by  private 
remonstrance  and  influence  to  prevent  such  occasions 
of  Sunday  desecration  as  could  be  better  met  in  this 
way  than  by  legal  means.  It  aimed  to  enlighten  the 
public  mind  as  to  the  value  of  the  Sunday  rest  by 
means  of  public  meetings  and  addresses,  by  the  public 
press  both  secular  and  religious,  and  by  the  issue  of 
carefully  prepared  documents.  It  sought  to  aid  pas- 
tors and  others  interested  in  studying  this  question, 
and  to  encourage  the  formation  of  similar  associations. 
It  aimed  to  keep  the  one  issue  distinct  from  every 
other  question  of  reform,  and  to  decline  impracticable 
measures.  It  sought  to  accomplish  its  ends,  so  far  as 
possible,  through  the  proper  officers  of  the  law,  and  to 
avoid  giving  needless  prominence  to  its  own  agency. 
In  fine,  it  endeavored  to  carry  on  its  work  on  such 
just  and  broad  grounds  as  to  secure  the  support  of 
all  good  citizens. 

"  These  principles  have  governed  the  Committee 
from  the  beginning  to  the  present  time.  The  results  of 
the  work  thus  conducted  have  been  all,  and  more  than 


476  SABBATH     AND    SUNDAY. 

all,  that  could  reasonably  have  been  expected.  Only 
a  brief  summary  of  the  most  important  of  these  re- 
sults can  here  be  given. 

"In  matters  of  legislation,  the  Committee  prepared, 
and  was  largely  instrumental  in  securing  the  passage 
of,  the  Metropolitan  Excise  law  of  1866,  the  most 
effective  liquor  law  ever  enacted  in  this  State  ;  which . 
enforced  as  it  was  from  1866  to  lb70,  diminished 
arrests  for  drunkenness  and  disorder  from  a  previous 
average  of  ten  to  twenty  per  cent,  more  arrests  on 
Sundays  than  on  other  days,  to  an  average  of  fortj- 
per  cent,  less  on  Sundays  than  on  week  days  ;  and 
which  brought  to  the  city  from  license  fees  an  annual 
revenue  of  one  million  dollars  in  place  of  the  tifteen 
or  twenty  thousand  dollars  a  year  previously  received. 
After  its  repeal  under  the  Tweed  regime,  tbe  Com- 
mittee, in  1878,secured  important  amendments  to  the 
Excise  law,  which  have  given  to  this  law  whatever 
effectiveness  it  has,  and  which  have  been  enforced  in 
other  parts  of  the  State,  if  not  in  this  city.  The 
Committee  drafted  and  secured  the  enactment  of  the 
Sunday  theatre  law  of  1860,  to  suppress  the  numer- 
ous low-class  Sunday  theatres  and  similar  entertain- 
ments which  were  becoming  fruitful  sources  of  vice 
and  disorder  ;  and  the  Processions  law  of  1873,  to 
regulate  and  put  under  police  control  processions 
and  parades  on  week  days,  and  to  abate  the  evil  of 
noisy  parades  on  Sunday. 

' '  The  Committee  also  proposed  certain  modifications 
of  the  Sunday  statutes  as  embodied  in  the  new  Penal 
Codd,  of  which  mention  is  made  on  a  subsequent 
page  of  this  Report. 

"  The  Committee  has  also  carefully  watched  the 
course  of  legislation,  and  has  frequently  and  with 
success  opposed  bills  containing  provisions  hostile  to 
the  Sunday  observance. 

•*  A  most  important  part  of  the  Committee's  work 
has  been  to  secure,  so  far  as  practicable,  the  enforce- 


SABBATH     AND    SUNDAY.  477 

ment  of  existing  laws.  The  action  of  the  Committee 
here  has  been  for  the  most  part  unobtrusive,  but  vigi- 
hxnt  and  ttfective.  Threatened  violations  have  been 
brought  to  the  notice  of  the  police  authorities.  In 
some  instances  it  has  been  necessary  to  employ  special 
counsel,  but  usually  the  committee  has  accomplished 
its  ends  wholly  through  the  proper  officers  of  the 
law.  Occasionally  it  has  been  found  expedient  to 
evoke  some  special  expression  of  public  sentiment,  as 
for  instance,  when  obstructions  were  thrown  in  the 
way  of  the  police  in  enforcing  the  Sunday  theatre 
law,  by  means  of  judicial  injunctions,  under  cover  of 
which,  in  plain  violation  of  law,  it  was  attempted  for 
several  weeks  to  carry  on  Sunday  theatrical  exhibi- 
tions. The  response  in  such  cases  on  the  part  of  the 
better  classes  of  our  citizens  has  ever  been  prompt 
and  decisive  in  sustaining  the  officers  of  the  law  in 
its  impartial  enforcement. 

"  In  addition  to  the  enforcement  of  the  special  laws 
above  referred  to,  the  Committee  brought  about  the 
suppression  of  the  noisy  crying  of  newspapers  on 
Sunday,  and  has  secured  the  suppression  of  other 
occasional  disturbances  of  the  peace  and  good  order 
of  the  day.  By  private  remonstrance  with  persons 
concerned  therein,  the  Committee  has  frequently 
been  able  to  prevent  public  and  imnecessary  work 
on  Sunday. 

*'  In  connection  with  the  action  of  the  Committee 
under  the  Excise  and  Sunday  theatre  laws,  import- 
ant decisions  have  been  rendered  by  the  courts  sus- 
taining the  constitutionality  of  these  laws. 

"  But  its  efforts  have  extended  beyond  this  city.  It 
was  in  response  to  an  appeal  from  this  Committee, 
communicated  by  an  influential  delegation,  that  the 
late  President  Lincoln  issued  in  1862  his  memorable 
order  for  the  observance  of  Sunday  by  the  army  and 
navy  during  our  Civil  War.  The  Committee  bore  an 
important  part  in  securing  the  closing  on  Sunday  of 


478  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

our  Centennial  Exhibition,  and  in  behalf  of  the  pub- 
lic recognition  of  the  Lord's  day  in  the  American  de- 
partment of  the  international  expositions  at  Vienna 
and  Paris  ;  and  especially  in  securing  the  oflBcial 
recognition  of  the  Sunday  rest  on  the  part  of  the 
representatives  of  our  Government  at  the  Interna- 
tional Electrical  Exposition  at  Paris  in  1881. 

^'The  Committee  has  held  numerous  conventions 
and  conferences  in  various  places  throughout  the 
country.  Meetings  have  been  held  under  its  au- 
spices in  this  and  other  cities,  with  special  reference 
to  workingmen  and  their  interest  in  the  Sunday 
rest.  At  the  instigation  of  the  Committee  numer- 
ous sermons  upon  the  various  aspects  or  the  Sunday 
question  have  been  preached  in  this  city  and  else- 
where, many  of  which  have  lx;en  printed  and  widely 
distributed.  *  Several  German  mass-meetings  in  this 
city  and  Brooklyn  have  been  held,  enlisting  a  large 
numl>er  of  our  German  fellow-citizens  in  sustaining 
the  American  habit  of  Sunday  observance.  Important 
help  has  been  given  to  pastors  and  others  interested 
in  the  discus.sion  of  tbe  various  a.spects  of  the  Sunday 
question,  throughout  the  country,  by  correspondence 
and  documents.  The  formation  of  similar  associa- 
tions in  other  States  has  been  aided.  Large  use  has 
been  made  of  the  .secular  and  religious  press,  and 
many  articles  have  been  prepared  and  have  appeared 
in  the  editorial  columns  of  these  papers,  which  have 
produced,  there  is  reason  to  believe,  no  .small  effect 
on  public  opinion.  The  Committee  has  collected  a 
rare  and  valuable  library  of  works  on  the  Sabbath, 
including  a  careful  collection  of  di.scus.sions  and 
facts  from  the  current  journals. 

"Another  important  department  of  the  Committee's 
work  has  l>een  the  preparation  and  publication  of 
original  documents.  Some  of  these  have  been  printed 
in  German,  and  some  in  French  and  in  other  foreign 
languages.     Of  these  documents  the  Committee  has 


SABBATH    AXD    SUNDAY.  479 

issued  upwards  of  five  hundred  thousand  copies,  con- 
taining six  million  pages,  besides  many  thousands  of 
leaflets,  circulars  and  other  papers.*  These  docu- 
ments have  been  widely  distributed.  Several  of  them 
have  been  republished  in  German  v.  Thirt  v  thou.<-and 
copies  of  a  carefullv  prepared  sketch  of  the  Ameri- 
can Sunday  observance,  in  French,  were  distributed 
in  France  by  special  request  of  the  friends  of  the 
cause  there.  Of  some  of  the  documents,  manv  thou- 
sand copies  have  l^een  reprinted  and  distributed  bv 
other  agencies.  The  Committee  has  also  printed  and 
distributed  gnituitously  to  pastors  of  leading  denomi- 
nations throughout  our  countv  ten  thousand  copies 
of  '  Gilfilian  on  the  Sabbath.'  an  able  work  of  650 
pages."* 

•  SUNDAY  LIQUOR  SELLI>-G." 

' '  There  has  been  more  outward  respect  paid  to  the 
prohibition  agidnst  liquor  sellinir  on  Sunday  than 
during  some  previous  years .  The^closins  of  the  front 
doors  and  the  less  open  and  defiant  display  of  the 
traffic  have  resulted  in  a  diminished  number  of 
Sunday  arrests,  although  the  traffic  has  been  lar?elv 
carried  on  without  hindrance  through  side  doors  "and 
back  entrances.  Other  agencies  than  those  of  the 
Committee  have  been  active  in  enforcing  the  pro 
visions  of  the  excise  law.'"  ^ 

"  THE  SUNDAY  SECTIONS  OF  THE  PENAL  CODE." 

"  •  With  the  exception  of  the  Sunday  provision  of  the 
excise  law,  and  the  theatre  and  processions  laws 
above  referred  to,  which  have  been  enacted  within  the 
past  few  years,  the  laws  touching  the  observance  of 
Sunday  have  l>een  expressed  in  a  ffeneral  statute 
which  has  come  down  to  us  substantially  unchancred 
from  the  last  century,  and  under  it,  and  the  still  earlier 

♦Document  45,  pp.  2-6. 


480  SA.BBATH   AND   SUNDAY. 

colonial  laws,  labor,  traffic,  public  sports,  etc.,  on 
Sunday  have  been  forbidden  from  the  beginning. 
This  statute,  however,  contained  certain  provisions, 
like  the  one  against  traveling,  which  have  long  been 
obsolete ;  and  its  penalties  were  entirely  inadequate 
to  secure  the  enforcement  of  the  law,  whenever  re- 
sisted. When,  therefore,  the  codifying  of  our  crimi 
nal  laws  was  undertaken,  the  Committee  welcomed 
the  opportunity  to  suggest  some  slight  changes  in  the 
Sunday  law.  and  these  were  approved  and  found  a 
place  in  the  penal  code,  which  was  finally  enacted 
by  the  legislature  in  1882,  and  took  effect  December 
1st  of  last  year.  The  Committee  deemed  it  wise,  so 
far  as  was  possible,  to  adhere  to  the  phraseology  of 
the  early  statutes,  relying  upon  the  good  sense  of  the 
community,  the  judicious  action  of  the  police  author- 
ities and,  the  reasonable  construction  to  be  applied 
by  the  courts,  for  such  an  enforcement  of  the  law,  as 
would  meet  general  approval.  But  the  imprudent 
zeal  of  some  who  aimed  at  a  too  rigid  interpretation 
of  the  law,  seconded  by  others  whose  purpose  was  to 
bring  it  into  disrepute,  led  to  actions  which  caused 
grave  anxiety  to  the  Committee,  and  justified  the 
fear,  that  strenuous  efforts  wovild  be  made  to  repeal 
or  seriously  to  modify  the  Sunday  provisions.  The 
course  pursued  by  the  courts,  in  applying  a  practical 
iind  moderate  interpretation,  and  later  the  prudent 
course  pursued  by  the  police,  relieved  somewhat  the 
apprehensions  of  the  Committee.  But,  at  the  time, 
great  irritation  of  feeling  existed.  The  feeling  spread 
in  some  measure  to  other  cities  in  the  State.  Plans 
were  laid  and  steps  taken  to  bring  such  pressure 
upon  the  legislature,  as  would  secure  tlie  prompt  re- 
peal, or  radical  modidcation  of  these  sections  of  the 
code. 

The  Committee  took  measures  to  counteract  these 
efforts.  Correspondence  and  personal  intercourse 
were  had  with  leading  men  in  different  parts  of  the 


SABBATH    AND   SUNDAY.  481 

State.  Soon,  in  this  city,  as  elsewhere,  the  facts  of 
the  CHse  became  better  understood.  Several  of  the 
leading  journals  and  some  influential  citizens  and 
legal  authorities  explained  and  defended  the  Sunday 
sections  of  the  code,  and  corrected  misapprehen- 
sions. 

"Immediatly  upon  the  assemblingof  the  legislature, 
bills  were  introduced  in  both  houses  practically  nul- 
lifying the  Sunday  laws,  and  were  strenuously  urged 
by  a  strong  and  organized  lobby,  representing  the 
liquor,  tobacco,  and  other  dealers  interested  in  Sun- 
day trading.  The  Committee  by  its  representatives 
was  repeatedly  heard  before  the  committees  of  the 
legislature  in  defense  of  the  laws.  Prominent  citi- 
zens here  and  elsewhere  throughout  the  State  rendered- 
valuable  aid.  Similar  associations  in  otlier  cities  ac- 
tively co-operated.  Numerous  petitions  were  pre- 
sented from  working-men  and  tradesmen,  as  well  as  • 
other  citizens,  against  relaxing  the  protection,  which 
the  Sunday  statutes  give  to  the  right  of  weekly  rest, 

"  After  a  long  struggle  and  abundant  discussions  in 
both  houses  of  the  legislature,  a  few  changes  were 
made  in  the  Sunday  sections  of  the  code,  the  most 
important  of  which  permits  the  selling  of  segars, 
fruit  and  confectionery  during  all  the  hours  of  Sun- 
day. In  other  respects,  the  provisions  of  the  code 
remjun  unimpaired." 

"  SUNDAY  RAILWAY  WORK." 

"The  rapid  increase  of  Sunday  labor  on  our  rail- 
ways has  engaged  the  anxious  attention  of  the  Com- 
mittee, as  of  thoughtful  men  all  over  our  country,  pra- 
senting,as  it  does,  what  is  perhaps  the  chief  source  of 
peril  to  the  observance  of  Sunday. 

*'  A  leading  railway  journal,  The  Railway  Age,  of 
Chicago,  has  recently  discussed  the  question,  with- 
great  candor  and  intelligence,  and  has  also  done  a 
most  important  service  by  securing  the  opinions  of 
a  number  of  prominent  railway  managers  as  to  the^^ 

(31) 


482  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

practicability  and  desirableness  of  reducing  Sunday 
traffic  and  work.  These  opinions  nearly  all  concur 
as  to  the  great  importance  of  the  Sunday  rest  to 
the  employes,  as  well  as  to  the  community  at  large, 
and  of  restricting  Sunday  work  in  some  measure. 
But  some  of  them  doubt  the  practicability  of  doing 
much  in  this  direction,  because  of  the  demand  of  the 
business  community  for  the  speediest  transportation 
of  freight,  and  because  of  the  rivalry  of  competing 
lines. 

"  On  the  19th  of  April  last,  the  president  of  the 
Louisville,  New  Albany  &  Chicago  R.  H.  Co.,  Ben- 
nett H.  Young,  Esq. ,  issued  an  order  forbidding  the 
running  of  any  trains  on  Sunday  on  his  road,  except 
those  carrying  United  States  mails,  and  two  months 
later,  in  a  communication  to  The  Railway  Age,  he 
gives  the  grounds  for  his  action.  He  says,  that  there 
are  in  the  railway  service  of  this  country,  it  is  esti- 
mated, five  hundred  thousand  persons,  and  that  it  is 
probable  that  more  than  one-half  of  these  are  required 
at  some  time  to  do  Sunday  service.  The  result  of  thus 
requiring  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  persons  to 
violate  the  day,  simply  to  make  money  for  the  cor- 
porations, is  not  only  a  monstrous  wrong  against  their 
religious  and  family  rights,  but  it  is  an  incalculable 
injury  to  society  at  large.  He  adds,  that,  so  far,  the 
results  of  the  experiment  on  his  road  are  more  than 
satisfactory,  and  no  injury  or  loss  has  resulted  to  his 
company  from  the  enforcement  of  his  Sunday  or- 
der."* 

We  have  given  considerable  space  to  the  New- 
York  Committee  in  order  that  the  reader  may  see 
the  methods  pursued,  and  judge  somewhat  as  to 
the  influence  of  the  Committee  as  an  agitating  power. 
We  think  it  is  doing  as  much  as  all  other  similar  or- 

*  Document  45,  pp.  8-12. 


SABBATH   AND   SUNDAY.  483 

ganizations  together  to  agitate  the  question  of  Sun- 
day observance.  The  forgoing  extracts  show  the 
Sunday  question  at  its  best  in  New  York  City.  The 
important  facts  which  do  not  appear  in  the  report 
are  :  In  spite  of  all  the  Committee  has  done,  the 
work  of  Sunday  desecration,  in  and  about  New  York, 
increases  every  year.  The  liquor  traffic  is  satisfied 
with  the  ''side  door"  system  for  Sunday.  Pleasure 
seeking  has  turned  its  tides  out  of  the  city,  until 
Coney  Island  and  its  compeers  are  thronged  on  every 
Sunday  that  is  not  uncomfortably  cold  or  positively 
stormy.  In  1884,  Sunday  afternoon  concerts  were 
inaugurated  in  Central  Park,  against  the  protests  of 
the  Sabbath  Committee.  When  the  summer  was 
past,  the  elevated  roads  reduced  their  fare  to  half 
price  throughout  the  day  on  Sunday,  in  order  to 
keep  the  tide  of  Sunday  travel  up  to  high-water 
mark.  Some  feeble  attempts  were  made,  unsuccess- 
fully, to  prevent  the  Park  concerts  in  18S5.  Such 
opposition  as  the  New  York  Committee  has  been 
able  to  make,  except  on  a  few  minor  points,  seems 
to  have  helped  to  swell  the  current  of  Sunday  dese- 
cration rather  than  to  decrease  it. 

MARYLAND   ASSOCIATION. 

Next  to  the  New  York  Committee  in  vigor  and 
effective  work,  is  the  "  Sabbath  Association  of  Mary- 
land," which  has  its  headquarters  in  Baltimore.  The 
reports  for  1879  and  1880  show  that  the  interest  in 
the  Sunday  question,  in  and  around  Baltimore,  is 
steadily  and  significantly  increasing.     During  1879, 


484  SABBATH   AND   SUNDAY. 

the  friends  of  Sunday  succeeded  in  restraining  "Sun- 
day excursions,"  and  similar  eucroacLments  upon 
the  religious  character  of  the  day,  by  judicial  and 
police  agencies.  The  report  of  the  Sabbath  Associa- 
tion for  that  year  closes  as  follows  : 

"CONCLUSION." 

' '  While,  therefore,  we  have  much  to  be  grateful 
for,  there  are  ominous  clouds  investing  the  horizon, 
and  indicating  an  approaching  storm.  The  opposi- 
tion is  not  merely  local,  but  it  is  a  great  coalition  of 
liquor  dealers  and  liberalists  throughout  the  land,, 
not  only  io  'destroy  the  ISahbath.  bat  CJiristianity 
mth  it.'  In  Baltimore  there  is  an  unblushing  effron- 
tery manifested  in  the  frequent  holding  of  meetings, 
in  ward  organizations,  in  pledging  candidates  for 
office,  etc. ,  with  the  proclaimed  purposes  to  emascu- 
late our  Sunday  laws.  Shall  they  accomplish  their 
infamous  objects  ?  Shall  they  be  allowed  to  break 
down  the  hedge  that  prevents  our  Eden-planted  gar- 
den from  becoming  a  common — a  morass — reeking 
with  moral  miasma  and  pollution  ?  There  is  an  in- 
flexible law,  that  zeal  and  industry  shall  triumph 
over  indolence  and  apathy.  Works  without  faith 
demonstrate  more  than  faith  without  works.  While 
the  enemy  is  vigilant,  active,  liberal,  how  many  of 
those  regarding  themselves  as  friends  of  the  Sabbath 
are  excusing  their  inertia,  with  pleas  of  ''  no  danger" 
or  quibbles  as  to  the  preci-e  grounds  oi  extent  of  the 
moral  obligations  of  the  Sabbath,  and  fear  of  being 
over  zealous,  or  charged  with  puritanism  or  some 
other  unpopular  attribute  ?  Or,  while  admitting  the 
importance  of  the  cause,  they  leave  it  for  others  to 
spend  time,  labor  and  means  upon  it.  '  The  chil- 
dren of  this  world  are  wiser  in  their  generation  than 
the  children  of  light,'  and,  seeming  not  to  expect 
effects  without  causes,  will  get  the  advantage  of  those 


SABBATH    AND   SUNDAY.  485 

who  practically  ignore  that  relation.  The  great 
question  is :  What  shall  Sunday  be  ?  Divided  be- 
tween labor  and  dissipation  ?  Increasing  vice  crime, 
pauperism,  oppressive  taxes,  etc.  ?  Or  a  day  of  rest 
and  quiet,  promoting  virtue,  liberty,  morality,  re- 
ligion and  universal  good?  Honoring  its  author  and 
blessing  the  people  ?  Unless  those  who  do  care  to 
have  it^perpetuated  to  posterity  do  somewhat  more 
than  wuh  it,  their  wishes  will  avail  naught.  If 
there  be  not  energy  enough  to  keep  the  Sabbath,  it 
will  depart,  and  who  shall  say  when  it  will  return? 
Has  it  returned  to  France  since  tUe  law  for  its  ob- 
servance was,  in  the  reign  of  terror,  overthrown. 
Has  there  been  anything  but  unrest  there,  since  they 
voted  away  the  God-given  weekly  rest  ?  "  * 

The  efforts  which  were  made  in  1879,  seem  to  have 
aroused  and  united  the  elements  which  oppose  the 
"  Orthodox"  view  of  Sunday,  for  the  report  of  1880 
shows  that  the  efforts  to  enforce  the  law  were  in  a 
large  degree  futile.  The  report  sums  up  the  matter 
under  the  head  of  "Judicial  Decision"  in  these 
words  : 

'  *  The  cases  of  Jersey  Cottrell  of  the  steamer  Cock- 
ade, and  Geo.  W.  Stearns,  fined  also  for  working  on 
Sunday,  last  summer,  were  reversed  on  appeal  ;  be- 
cause the  warrants  issued  were  not  suiumouHS  in 
debt,  which  the  court  decided  they  should  have  been. 
So  then  all  parties  were  freed— the  one  running  the 
excursion  train  to  camp-meeting  on  Sunday,  under 
■  the  decision  that  going  there  was  a  necessary  means 
of  salvation,  and  the  others,  because  arrested  under 
the  wrong  form.  Such  proceedings  can  only  en- 
courage those  w^ho  are  oppo>ed  to  the  Sabbath.  And 
when  a  steam -boat  was  advertised  last  summer  to 


*  Document  45,  pp.  11,  i2. 


486  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

make  Sunday  excursions,  without  the  pretext  of 
carrying  the  mail,  and  information  of  the  fact  was 
conveyed  to  the  Board  of  Police,  they  replied,  that 
under  the  judge's  decision  tliey  had  determined  to 
make  no  arrests  for  Sunday  excursions." 

On  the  other  hand  the  same  report  opens  as  fol- 
lows : 

"THE   GRAND   EVENT," 

"  Of  course  the  great  event  of  year,  to  the  Sabbath 
cause  liere,  was  the  defeat  of  the  bill  in  the  Legisla- 
ture, to  damage  the  State  Sunday  law.  Only  one 
Legislative  terra  in  the  last  twelve  years  has  passed 
without  the  introduction  of  one  or  more  bills  with 
that  intent;  but  never  before  were  the  plans  so  long  and 
confidently  laid,  so  artfully  managed,  so  extensively, 
assiduously,  and  probably  so  expensively  prosecuted, 
as  in  this  instance.  But  notwithstanding  the  dele 
terious  results  of  the  late  war,  upon  the  Sabbaih — 
the  accessions  to  our  population  of  those  from  coun- 
tries where  it  is  ignored,  their  deplorable  success  in 
degrading  the  Sabbath  in  other  large  cities,  the  with- 
holding of  help  by  professed  friends — and  the  efforts 
of  certnin  preachers,  to  shift  the  grounds  of  Sabbath 
obligations — still  we  have  oc  'asion  to  thank  God  and 
take  courage,  that  the  Sunday  law  of  our  State  abides 
unscathed  and  her  metropolis  holds  pre-eminence  for 
its  quiet  observance.  And  if  all  its  professed  friends 
would  nobly  combine  in  its  behalf,  most  of  the  ex- 
isting grievances  might  be  speedily  ameliorated." 

The  details  are  then  given  showing  how  the  case 
was  managed  by  each  side,  and  the  results  stated  in 
these  words  : 

"Mr.  Hayes,  having  become  chairman  of  the  House 
Committee  on  the  "modification"  bill,  arranged  to 
have  your  Committee  heard  on  the  5th  of  March 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  487 

The  interview  appeared  to  be  a  very  effective  one. 
No  report  was  made  to  the  House,  till  the  24th,  and 
then  a  bill  was  offered  far  more  moderate  in  its  pro- 
posed changes  than  two  that  had  been  previously 
drawn  up.  Still  Mr.  Hayes  vigorously  opposed  it, 
and  had  action  upon  it  deferred  to  a  subsequent  day. 
It  was  then,  however,  passed  to  a  second  reading. 
When  this  was  had,  it  passed  to.a  third  and  final  read- 
ing in  the  House  with  indications  that  it  Avould  suc- 
ceed. To  insure  this,  its  advocates  called  it  up  pre- 
maturely and  used  every  means  to  effect  its  passage 
—demanding  the  previous  question  and  preventing 
debate.  But  with  all,  it  failed  by  eight  votes  of  re- 
ceiving a  constitutional  majority,  and  the  question 
was  settled  for  the  present,  to  the  peace  the  of  commu- 
nity, the  honor  of  God  and  the  credit  of  the  Legisla- 
ture. When  our  President  received  the  intelligence, 
he  almost  involuntarily  exclaimed,  "  What  hath 
God  wrousfht !  "  But  how  many  thousands,  who 
would  have  suffered  through  the  passage  of  the  in- 
iquitous measure,  were  ignorant  of  their  peril  and 
unmoved  at  the  escape  !  " 

The  report  of  1883  shows  but  little  change  in  the 
general  status  of  the  question  in  Baltimore.  "  Sun- 
day excursions  "  and  Sunday  papers  seeni  to  have 
increased.  Efforts  to  lessen  the  character  of  the 
Sunday  law  in  general  had  been  defeated.  The 
report  closes  with  a  general  glance  at  the  field  in  the 
following  words : 

CHEERING  FACTS. 

"It  was  declared  of  old 'when  the  enemy  shall 
come  in  like  a  flood,  the  Lord  will  raise  up  a  stand- 
ard against  him.'  And  against  the  advancing  tide  of 
Sabbath  desecration, it  is  truly  gratifying  to  see  increas- 
ing laborers  and  organizations.    Within  a  year  there 


488  SABBATH    AND   SUNDAY. 

have  been  originated  or  revived  the  Sabbath  Asso- 
ciations of  63'racuse,  Cincinnati,  Cleveland,  Indian- 
apolis, (.Chicago  and  Detroit.  Two  valuable  confer- 
ences of  workers  in  the  cause  have  been  held  at 
Pittsburg.  The  former  was  attended  by  your  Secre- 
tary, the  latter  occured  during  the  season  of  the  Md. 
General  Assembly,  when  it  was  not  thought  best  for 
him  to  leave.  Able  papers  by  eminent  and  earnest 
friends  of  the  cause  were  read,  and  their  publication 
in  the  International  Reporter  forms  an  interesting 
and  useful  document ,  Both  the  conferences  were  held 
under  the  auspices  of  the  '  International  Sabbath  Asso- 
ciation '  (comprehendintr  the  United  States  and  C'ana- 
das),  whose  energetic  and  indefatigable  secretary,  Kev. 
Yates  Hickc}',  has  also  labored  in  the  establishment 
of  the  Associations  above  mentioned.  Our  own 
Secretary  was  solicited  to  act  as  an  associate  secre- 
tary for  this  and  adjoining  States,  and  the  Com- 
mittee agreed  to  the  same,  so  far  as  it  would  not  in- 
terfere with  our  particular  work.  While  our  special 
field  is  our  own  State,  we  have  matters  to  dt  al  with 
that  are  affected  by  public  sentiment  in  surrounding 
States,  so  that  whatever  influnce  we  may  exert  in 
promoting  interest  for  the  Sabbath  in  them,  must 
naturnally  react  favorably  on  our  own." 

The  state  of  the  Sunday  questions  in  localities 
where  there  are  no  committees,  or  less  vigorous 
ones,  is  outlined  in  the  report  of  the  New  York  Com- 
mittee for  1882-1883,  as  follows: 

"SUNDAY  IN  OTHER  PARTS  OF  THE  STATE." 

"In  Brooklyn,  Albany,  Utica,  Buffalo,  New- 
burgh,  Long  Island  City,  and  other  places,  org:aniz- 
ations  have  been  started  to  secure  a  better  enforce- 
ment of  the  Sunday  laws,  especially  those  pertaining 
to  the  sale  of  liquor  on  that  clay.  These  movenients 
have  received  such  co-operation  as  the  Committee 


SABBATH    AND   SUNDAY.  489 

has  been  able  to  give.  Some  of  these  organizations 
took  an  active  part  in  the  contests  in  the  legislature 
during  the  past  winter." 

****** 

"  THE  SUNDAY  QUESTION  IN  OTHER  STATES." 

"Elsewhere  throughout  the  country. during  the  past 
two  years,  the  Sunday  question  has  engaged  unusual 
attention. 

'  In  Massachusetts,  early  in  the  past  summer,  the 
announcement  of  a  Sunday  passenger  train  over  the 
Housatonic  railroad,  from  Bridgeport  to  Pittstield, 
aroused  immediate  and  strong  opposition  on  the  part 
of  the  dwellers  in  the  quiet  villages  along  the  route, 
the  mill  owners,  the  summer  boarders,  etc.  At  a 
public  hearing  t)efore  the  board  of  railroad  commis- 
sioners of  the  State,  without  whose  permission  the 
train  could  not  be  run,  so  vigorous  a  protest  was 
made  against  the  disturbance  that  the  proposed  train 
would  occasion,  with  its  inroad  of  Sunday  excur- 
sionists, aud  the  inducements  to  drinking  and  dissi 
pation,  that  the  commissioners  decided  unanimosly 
against  the  train. 

"In  the  legislature  of  New  Jersey,  last  year,  a 
bill  to  modify  the  Sunday  laws  in  favor  of  liqu  or 
dealers  was  defeated.  Early  in  the  past  winter, 
theatrical  performances  on  Sunday  in  the  city  of 
Newark,  which  for  a  long  lime  had  been  tolerated, 
were  suppressed  by  the  police.  The  immense  over- 
flow of  Germans  and  others  from  New  York  into 
Jersey  City,  Hoboken  and  the  neigboring  towns,  is 
the  occasion  of  a  very  large  Sunday  business  in  the 
saloons  of  those  places.  Very  recently  efforts  had 
been  made  with  some  success  for  the  enforcement  of 
the  law  in  closing  these  places  on  ^unday. 

"Louisiana  was  for  a  long  time  the  only  state  which 
had  no  Sunday  law.  A  few  years  since  a  law  was 
passed  by  the  legislature  giving  power  to  the  several 


490  SABBATH   AND   SUNDAY. 

counties  or  parishes  to  enact  ordinances  restricting 
Sunday  traffic  and  several  counties  passed  such 
ordinances,  with  very  successful  results.  Recently, 
however,  the  law  has  been  declared  unconstitutional 
by  the  supreme  court.  A  year  ago  a  movement 
was  started  in  New  Orleans  in  faVor  of  Sunday  ob- 
servance. A  large  number  of  ministers  and  laymen, 
representing  the  various  religious  denominations, 
met  to  confer  on  the  subject,  among  whom  were 
repres -ntatives  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  and 
the  principal  Jewish  rabbi  of  the  city.  It  was  agreed 
to  organize  a  le^igue  on  a  basis  so  broad  as  to  unite 
all,  whatever  might  be  their  opinions  concernins:  the 
religious  obligation  and  use  of  the  day,  in  efforts  to 
discourage  all  unnecessary  servile  labor  on  Sunday, 
and  all  such  pubUc  amusements  as  involved  the  ser- 
vile labor  of  others.  Officers  and  an  executive  com- 
mittee were  chosen,  comprising  prominent  laymen 
and  clergymen  of  different  denominations,  Protestant 
and  Catholic.  Inspired  by  the  formation  of  this 
league,  a  number  of  the  retail  clerks  of  the  city  or- 
ganized themselves  into  an  association  for  urging 
upon  the  Legislature  the  passing  of  a  Sunday  closing 
law, 

"  In  Chicago  the  public  desecration  of  the  Lord's- 
day  has  greatly  increased  within  the  last  two  or  three 
years,  and  without  any  effective  effort  to  resist  it. 
The  drinking  saloons  and  nearly  all  the  thealres  are 
regularly  open  on  Sunday,  and  the  day  is  used  for 
constructing  and  repairing  railway  tracks  and  similar 
work.  A  movement  was  started  last  year  among 
some  of  the  churches  for  the  purpose  of  closing  the 
theatres  on  Sunday.  But  it  does  not  appear  that 
anything  was  accomplished  by  it. 

^ ''  In  California  within  the  past  year,  after  an  ex- 
citing contest,  the  friends  of  the  Lord's-day  have 
met  with  what  would  seem  a  disastrous  defeat,  but 
which,  it  is  hoped,  may  ultimately  result  in  good.  A 


SABBATH   AND   SUNDAY.  491 

Sunday  law  of  the  State  of  several  years'  standing 
proliibited  the  keeping  open  on  ^>unday  of  any  store, 
workshop,  bar,  saloon,  banking-house,  or  other 
place  of  business  for  the  purpose  of  transacting  busi- 
ness therein,  under  penalty  of  a  line  of  from  live  to 
fifty  dollars.  The  supreme  court  of  the  State,  on 
an  appeal,  affirmed  the  constitutionality  of  the  law. 
The  opinion  of  the  court,  in  which  a  majority 
of  the  judges  concurred,  said  : 

"•Regarding  the  matter  from  a  purely  secular 
stand-point,  the  law  is  a  proper  and  salutary  one.  It 
imposes  no  restraint  upon  the  conscience  of  any 
member  of  the  communit}^ ;  it  exacts  from  no  per- 
son the  performnnce  of  any  religious  rites  or  cere- 
monies ;  it  prescribes  no  religious  faith  or  belief.  .  . 
Sunday  laws  leave  a  man's  religious  belief  and  prac- 
tices as  free  as  the  air  he  breathes.  They  only  forbid 
the  carrying  on  of  certain  kinds  of  business  on  a 
certain  day  of  the  week,  and  the  day  selected  in 
deference  to  the  feelings  and  wishes  of  a  large  ma- 
jority of  the  community  is  the  day  commonly  de- 
nominated the  Christian  Sabbath,  or  Sunday.' 

"  Encouraged  by  this  decision,  a  movement  was 
started  for  the  better  enforcement  of  this  law,  which 
to  a  large  extent  had  long  been  a  dead  letter.  The 
liquor  dealers  and  others  interested  in  Sunday  traffic, 
constituting  a  very  large  and  powerful  class  of  the 
community,  aided  by  the  German  Turn  Verein. 
and  an  association  of  free-thinkers,  for  the  purpose 
of  resisting  this  movement  organized  a  so-called 
'League  of  Freedom,'  the  members  of  which 
pledged  themselves  both  to  disregard  the  law,  and  to 
support  no  candidate  for  the  legislature  who  was 
not  pledged  to  vote  for  its  repeal.  The  public  jour- 
nals of  the  State  were  largely  under  their  influence. 
An  attempt  was  made  in  San  Francisco  to  enforce 
the  law.  The  Ministerial  Union  of  that  city,  repre- 
senting some  fifty  churches,  presented  an  address  of 


492  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

dignity,  calmness  and  strength  to  the  mayor  and 
other  officials,  setting  forth  the  justness  of  the  cause, 
the  suflering  of  the  people,  the  majesty  of  law,  and 
the  peril  that  was  threatened  by  those  who  were  con 
spiring  to  resist  it.  The  chiefs  of  police  of  San 
Francisco,  Sacramento  and  other  (ities  gave  notice 
of  their  intention  to  enforce  the  law.  But  the  mem- 
bers of  the  league  threw  their  doors  open  defiantly. 
On  the  first  day  five  hundred  arrests  were  made  in 
San  Francisco  for  violations  of  the  law,  of  which 
four-fifths  were  for  selling  liquor,  and  the  names  of 
those  arrested  showed  that  more  than  three-fourths 
were  foreign-born.  The  offenders  were  admitted  to 
bail  and  the  trial  deferred  An  election  was  im- 
pending, and  the  question  was  carried  to  the  conven- 
tions of  the  two  great  political  parties  The  Demo- 
cratic convention  adopted  a  resolution  strongly  de- 
nouncing the  Sundaj^  laws,  and  demanding  their  re- 
peal. The  Republican  party,  with  a  great  show  of 
entusiasm, passed  a  resolution  favoring  the  observing 
of  Sunday  as  a  day  of  rest  and  recreation,  and  the 
maintenance  of  the  present,  or  similar,  laws  providing 
for  the  suspension  of  all  unnecessary  business  on 
Sunday.  The  Democratic  party  succeeded  at  the 
polls.  A  bill  repealing  the  Sunday  law  was  passed 
by  large  majorities  in  the  legislature,  and  was  sign- 
ed by  Governor  Stoneman,  who,  in  his  previous 
message,  had  recommended  this  repeal. 

"  The  Legislature  of  Ohio,  in  April,  1883,  enacted 
a  law  prohibiting  the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquoi*s  on 
Sunday,  and  requiring  the  closing  on  that  day  of  all 
places  where  such  liquor  is  sold.  The  pass>ige  of 
this  law  was  preceded  by  a  popular  agitation  and 
discussion  of  this  question  throughout  the  State, 
such  as  rarel}'^  occurs.  The  enforcement  of  the  law 
was  attended  with  excellent  results  in  diminishing 
Sunday  arrests.  But  Cincinnati  and  one  or  two 
other  cities  in  the  State,  where  there  is  a  large  for- 


SABBATH   AND   SUNDAY.  493 

eign  population,  owing  to  their  opposition  and  that 
of  the  Hquor  dealers,  the  law  has  been  allowed  to 
become  a  dead  letter.  The  question  has  become  an  im- 
portant element  in  the  political  contests  in  this  State 
add  the  result  is  not  yet  determined.  * 

"In  Missouri,  in  compliance  with  the  public  de- 
mand for  some  more  stringent  restriction  of  the 
liquor  tratHc,  a  law  was  passed  by  the  last  legislature 
establishing  higher  license  fees,  and  re-enacting  the 
prohibition  of  the  traffic  on  Sunda3%  which  for  a  long 
time  had  been  practically  disregarded.  The  taking 
effect  of  this  new  statute  in  July  caused  much  ex- 
citement in  St.  Louis  and  one  or  two  other  cities. 
The  law  was  at  once  enforced  and  with  marked  re- 
sults. Many  of  the  liquor  dealers  openly  defied  the 
law,  and  a  large  number  of  arrests  were  made.  It 
was  attempted  in  some  instances  to  secure  the  rigid 
enforcement  of  all  other  Sunday  laws,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  bringing  them  into  odium,  but  after  a  few 
weeks  the  operation  of  the  law  in  St.  Louis  was  sus- 
pended by  one  of  the  city  courts,  on  the  ground 
that  a  previous  statute,  which  had  not  been  repealed 
gave  the  city  certain  privileges,  which  exempted  it 
from  the  provisions  of  the  law  in  question.  It  is 
thought,  however,  that  this  decision  will  be  over- 
ruled by  higher  courts.  Governor  Crittenden  has 
firmly  sustained  the  law.  The  defiant  action  of  the 
liquor  dealers  has  awakened  strong  feelings  of  in- 
dignation among  the  better  class  of  people  through- 
out the  State.  A  large  meeting  of  citizens  of  St. 
Louis  passed  resolutions  appro  zing  of  the  Sunday 
clauses  of  the  law,  deprecating  the  recent  adverse 
decisions,  and  approving  the  course  of  the  governor 
in  the  matter.  A  Workingmen's  Sabbath-day  Rest 
Association  has  been  organized  in  St.  Louis. 

♦  In  1884,  the  Scott  law  was  declared  unconstitutional  and 
'*  free  rum  and  no  Sunday  "  became  legal,  as  well  as  actual 
throuffhout  Ohio. 


494  SABBATH   AND  SUNDAY. 

''In  Milwaukee,  where  an  unusually  large  proper 
tion  of  the  population  is  foreiga-born,  the  laws  pro- 
tecting the  8unda3^  rest,  and  especially  those  forbid- 
ding the  sale  of  liquor  on  Sunday,  have  been  practi- 
cally disregarded  for  several  years  past.  A  move- 
ment made  last  fall  to  secure  a  better  enforcement  of 
these  laws  was  met  by  bitter  opposition  on  the  part 
of  the  brewers  and  saloon  keepers,  and  it  was  at- 
tempted to  '  boycott '  the  merchants  who  favored 
reform."* 

The  foregoing  from  the  report  of  the  New  York 
Committee  presents  the  Sunday  question  in  the  most 
favorable  light  possible.  We  do  not  care  to  add 
more  unfavorable  facts  in  this  place.  The  report 
shows  that  Sunday,  as  a  Sabbath,  is  already  a  thing 
of  the  past,  and  that  as  a  holiday,  it  is  here  to  stay. 
The  "Philadelphia  Sabbath  Association,"  a  local 
society  which  expends  its  efforts  mainly  in  mission- 
ary work  among  canal  men,  presented  its  forty-third 
annual  report  in  March,  1884.  It  shows  nothing  of 
importance  in  the  matter  of  agitation.  Its  brief  re- 
port closes  as  follows  : 

"  From  our  experience  and  observation  in  the 
work  over  which  we  have  been  placed,  in  the  provi- 
dence of  God,  it  seems  to  us  : 

"1.  Th  it  convictions  are  deepening  upon  the 
minds  of  Chsistians  that  the  obligations  of  the  fourth 
commandment  are  binding  upon  us.  The  churches 
are  feeling  none  too  soon  that  the  blessed  heritage 
of  the  Lord's-day  is  in  danger  of  being  destroyed. 
The  tide  of  Sabbath  desecration  must  be  stayed  or  the 
most  fearful  results  will  follow.  We  are  glad  to 
know  that  Christians  are  stirred  up  to  prayer  for  the 

*  Document  49,  pp.  15-17. 


SABBATH     AND     SUNDAY.  495 

better  observance  of  the  Sabbath  The  union  meet- 
ings recently  held  in  Association  Hall  on  Wednesday 
afternoon,  and  continued  from  week  to  week,  is  an 
evidence  of  the  pulsating  of  Christian  hearts  and 
their  trust  in  God  for  final  victory.  It  may  be  that 
a  great  public  meeting  of  the  people,  without  dis- 
tinction of  sect,  party  or  denomination,  may  be  calltd 
"for  in  the  near  future,  at  which  the  Christian  sen- 
timent of  this  great  city  may  be  properly  voiced. 

"  2.  The  inauguration  of  a  new  administration  of 
our  municipal  government  is  deemed  a  fitting  time 
for  a  united  effort  in  favor  of  the  closing  on  the 
Sabbath  of  all  liquor  saloons,  which  have  been  so  long 
and  persistently  open  in  defiance  of  all  law,  human 
and  divine,  daring  the  mayor  and  other  officers  of 
the  peace  to  molest  them  or  make  them  afraid. 

"  3.  The  lessons  that  come  to  us  from  a  great 
Western  city  that  had  discarded  the  Bible  from  its 
public  schools  and  virtually  had  no  Sabbath  are  not 
to  be  disregarded.  Riot,  ruin,  outlawry,  arson  and 
murder  are  the  results  of  Bible  ostracism  and  Sab- 
bath desecration.  It  becomes  a  question  that  Amer- 
icans must  look  full  in  the  face.  Shall  the  rights  of 
God  in  his  claim  on  the  one-seventh  of  our  time  for 
rest  and  worship,  and  tlie  rights  of  humanity  to  a 
cessation  from  toil  and  labor,  '  for  the  ease  of  crea- 
tion,' be  respected,  or  shall  our  laws  and  ordinances 
be  trampled  under  foot  by  liquor  sellers  communists 
and  other  enemies  of  American  liberties  ?  " 


Closely  allied  to  the  work  of  these  "  Sabbath  Com- 
mittees" is  the  "National  Reform  Movement," 
which  took  form  at  a  convention  in  Cincinnati  in 
1872.  The  aims  of  this  movement  are  set  forth  in 
the  constitution  of  the  Association,  as  follows  : 

"  The  object  of  this  Society  shall  be  to  maintain 


496  SABBATH   AND   SUNDAY. 

existing  Christian  features  in  the  American  govern- 
ment, and  to  secure  such  an  amendment  to  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States  as  will  indicate  that 
this  is  a  Christian  nation,  and  place  all  the  Christian 
laws,  institutions  and  usages  of  our  government  on 
an  undeniable  legal  basis  in  the  fundamental  law  of 
the  land." 

This  movement  has  many  supporters,  and  is  vig- 
orously represented  by  its  organ,  The  Christian 
Statesman,  of  Philadelphia.  The  need  of  a  better 
enforcement  of  the  Sunday  laws  is  a  prominent  feat- 
ure in  its  columns.  The  Subject  of  Sunday  mails 
was  much  discussed  at  the  meeting  of  the  National 
Reform  Association  in  the  spring  of  1885,  and  it  was 
resolved  to  make  a  special  point  in  that  direction 
during  the  year.  The  Statesman  also  announced 
that  it  would  henceforth  make  the  Sabbath  question 
a  prominent  feature  in  its  work.  In  the  autumn  of 
1884,  and  the  spring  of  1885,  the  Woman's  Christian 
Temperance  Union  of  the  United  States,  created  a 
Sabbath-reform  department  in  their  work.  These 
latest  influences  of  agitation  are  steadily  at  work  at 
the  date  of  this  writing. 

In  addition  to  these  organized  efforts,  there  is  an 
an  increasing  attention  paid  to  the  Sabbath  question, 
by  the  representative  Christian  bodies,  conferences, 
synods,  assemblies,  and  the  like.  Such  are  some  of 
the  influences  at  work  among  those  who  are  the  ad- 
vocates of  S  inday  as  the  Sabbath.  Everything  in- 
dicates that  these  will  increase,  rather  than  decrease, 
their  efforts  at  agitation. 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  49T 

"ANTI-SABBATH    CONVENTIONS." 

The  efforts  in  favor  of  the  Puritanic  observance  of 
Sunday,  durinoj  the  fourth  decade  of  the  present 
century,  awakened  a  religious  opposition  which  took- 
form  in  an  "  Anti-Sabbath  Convention,"  which  was 
held  in  Boston  in  March,  1848.  It  was  convened 
under  the  call  of  Wm.  Lloyd  Garrison,  Theodore 
Paiker,  Chas  K.  Whipple  and  others.  The  report 
of  its  proceedings  makes  a  volume  of  168  pages. 
This  convention  took  the  ground  that  there  is  no 
holy  time  under  the  gospel.  That  the  Sabbath  per- 
ished with  Judaism,  or  remains  only  as  a  part  of  it. 
That  civil  law  has  no  province  in  ordering  any  ob- 
servance of  time  as  a  religious  or  semi-religious  duty. 
The  call  closed  with  these  words: 

"  We  are  aware  that  we  shall  inevitably  be  accused,, 
by  the  chief  priests,  scribes  and  pharisees  of  the 
present  time,  as  was  Jesus  by  the  same  class  in  his^ 
age,  as  not  of  God,  because  we  do  not  keep  the  Sab- 
bath-day: but  we  are  persuaded,  that  to  expose  the 
popular  delusion  which  prevails  on  this  subject  is  to- 
advance  the  cause  of  pure  Christianity  to  promote 
true  and  acceptable  worship,  and  inculcate  strict 
moral  and  religious  accountability,  in  all  the  con- 
cerns of  life,  on  all  days  of  the  week  alike.  If  we 
are  'infidels,' or  'heretics'  for  this  belief,  we  are- 
content  to  stand  in  the  same  condemnation,  on  thii?' 
point,  with  Tyndale,  Luther,  Calvin,  Melancthon,.- 
Roger  Williams,  John  Milton,  Penn,  Fox,  Priestly, 
Belsham,  Paley,  Wlitly,  Archbishop  Whatley  and  a 
host  of  others  who  are  everywhere  lauded  by  the 
various  sects  with  which  they  are  identified  as  among 
the  brightest  ornaments  of  the  Christian  church,  and 

(32) 


498  SABBATH     AND     SUNDAY. 

Avho  are  essentially  agreed  with  us  in  the  opinion 
that  the  Sabbath  was  a  Jewish  institution."  * 

Many  resolutions  were  discussed  and  adopted, 
among  which  are  the  following : 

"2.  Renolved,  That  the  penal  enactments  of  the  State 
legislature,  compelling  the  observance  of  the  first 
day  of  the  week  as  the  Sabbath,  are  despotic,  un- 
constitutional and  ought  to  be  immediately  abrogated, 
and  that  the  interference  of  the  State,  in  matters  of 
religious  faith  and  ceremonies,  is  a  usurpation  which 
cannot  be  justified." 

"12.  Resolved,  That  as  the  duty  of  observing  the 
first  day  of  the  week  is  not  enjoined  either  in  the 
second  chapter  of  Genesis,  or  the  twentieth  chapter 
of  Exodus,  or  in  any  other  portion  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, any  reference  to  the  Jewish  Scriptures,  in  sup- 
port of  such  observance,  is  not  only  impertinent,  but 
condemnatory  of  the  present  general  practice  ;  for 
the  old  Hebrew  injunction  runs:  'The  stvejith  day 
is  the  Sabbath.' " 

"30.  Resolved,  That  with  the  observance  of  the 
first  day  of  the  week  simply  as  a  day  of  bodily  rest, 
in  the  present  deplorable  condition  of  the  laboring 
classes,  we  have  no  controversy.  On  the  contrary, 
we  regard  it  as  an  indispensable  relaxation,  both  for 
men  and  animals,  who  are  severely  taxed  six  days 
out  of  seven  ;  but  we  den}'  that  this  excessive  toil 
and  imperfect  rest  are  in  accordance  with  physiologi- 
cal law,  or  the  design  of  the  universal  Father  in  the 
creation  of  man,  or  that  they  are  the  highest  attain- 
able state  of  the  human  race";  and  we  would  remove 
from  the  minds  of  all  every  superstitious  notion  as  to 
the  peculiar  sanctity  of  the  day. " 

This  convention  was  very  sharply  criticised  and 

*  Proceedings,  etc.,  p.  8. 


SABBATH    AND   SUNDAY.  490 

condemned  by  the  "  Religious  Press"  of  the  coun- 
try. Those  who  planned  it  and  took  part  represented 
much  ability  and  much  of  the  spirit  and  power  of 
reform  in  other  directions,  especially  in  the  matter  of 
slavery.  The  report  of  its  proceedings  made  a  per- 
manent addition  to  the  Sabbath  literature  of  that 
time  as  well  as  of  the  present,  and  it  must  be  reckoned 
among  the  significant  elements  in  the  Sabbath  ques. 
tion  in  America.  The  doctrines  put  forth  by  it  have 
far  more  adherents  now,  than  they  had  then. 

"  HOW  SHALL  WE  KEEP  SUNDAY  ?" 

The  agitation  of  the  Sunday  question  in  connection 
with  the  Centennial  Exhibition  at  Philadelphia  in 
1876,  gave  rise  to  a  certain  pamphlet  of  100  pages. 
It  was  issued  by  the  "Free  Religious  Association," 
Boston.  The  full  title  is:  "How  Shall  We  Keep 
Sunday  ?"    An  an.swer  in  Four  Parts: 

1.  Sunday  in  the  Bible. 

2.  Sunday  in  Church  History. 

3.  Sunday  in  the  Massachusetts  Law, 

4.  The  Working  Man's  Sunday. 

By  Charles  K.  Whipple,  Minot  J,  Savage,  Charles 
E.  Pratt,  AVm,  C.  Gannett,  respectively. 

These  papers  were  "delivered  at  a  convention 
of  the  Free  Religious  Association,  called  specially  to 
consider  the  question,  *  How  Shall  We  Keep  Sun- 
day.'" Efforts  were  made  to  induce  men  holding 
the  ' '  Orthodox  "  view  to  present  it  to  this  conven- 
tion but  without  success.  The  views  presented  rest 
upon  the  "No-Sabbath"    platform,  with  the  idea 


500  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

that  Sunday  should  be  used  for  "rest,  recreation  or 
religious  service,"  as  men  may  choose,  "only  lei 
tbe  true  grounds  of  such  observance  be  understood, 
and  let  not  sectarians  impose  their  church  rules  upon 
the  community  under  the  pretense  that  they  are  laws 
of  God."  The  historic  paper  concerning  the  Sunday 
laws  of  Massachusetts  gives  many  interesting  facts, 
and  quotes  a  list  of  cases  of  unjust  punishment  un- 
der the  law.  It  is  the  latest  contribution  to  the  Sab- 
bath literature  of  the  present  time,  from  the  liberal 
wing  of  the  church. 

THE  SABBATH  PROPER. 

The  efforts  and  doctrines  of  those  Christians  who 
observe  the  seventh  day  may  be  classed  as  a  third 
element  of  agitation,  from  the  religious  stand-point. 

SEVENTH-DAY  BAPTISTS. 

The  Seventh-day  Baptists  are  by  far  the  oldest 
sect  among  those  Christians  who  do  not  accept  the 
Sunday.  They  have  had  an  organized  existence  in 
America  since  1671.  In  England  they  have  had  a 
denominational  existence  for  a  still  longer  period, 
and  claim  to  have  an  unorganized,  but  yet  an  un- 
broken existence,  through  all  the  centuries  backward 
to  the  time  when  Sunday  usurped  the  place  of  the 
Sabbath  in  the  Christian  church.  At  first  they 
could  find  no  place  for  existence  in  America  except 
in  the  land  of  Roger  Williams.  Their  growth  has 
been  slow  and  their  numbers  are  yet  le;>s  than  ten 
thousand  "  communicants."  They  represent  a  pop- 
ulation of  twenty-five  thousand  more  or  less.     Their 


SABBATH    AND   SUNDAY.  501 

doctrines  are  essentially  the  same  as  those  held  by 
the  "Regular  Baptists,"  except  on  the  Sabbath  ques- 
tion. On  that  point  they  teach  that  the  Law  of  God 
as  contained  in  the  Decalogue  is  eternal  and  univer- 
sal, both  as  to  its  letter,  aud  its  spirit ;  therefore  the 
Seventh-day  is  the  only  Sabbath.  That  under  the 
gospel  it  should  be  observed  with  Christian  freedom 
and  not  Judaic  strictness,  but  that  the  change  which 
Christ  taught  was  a  change  in  the  spirit  and  manner 
of  observance  and  not  in  the  day  to  be  observed. 
They  believe  that  in  the  on-coming  issue  the  Sunday 
will  inevitably  return  to  its  native  place  as  a  holiday, 
and  that  the  Christian  church  will  be  left  Sabbath- 
less, unless  it  returns  io  the  Seventh-day  which  alone 
has  divine  authority.  Their  work  has  been  more 
that  of  seed  sowing  than  of  political,  or  other  forms 
of  agitation,  partaking  more  of  the  grace  of  patient 
waiting,  than  of  the  expectation  of  immmediate  suc- 
cess. They  are  steadily  enlarging  their  missionary 
and  Sabbath-reform  efforts.  The  religious  features 
of  the  question  are  most  discussed  by  them. 

They  believe  that  the  present  Sunday  laws  are  un- 
just in  the  disabilities  which  they  place  upon  Sab- 
bath-keepers. But  since  the  majority  claim  the 
right  to  thus  infringe  upon  the  rights  of  the  minority, 
they  have  thus  far  accepted  the  situation,  under  pro- 
test, waiting  patiently  the  time  of  their  vindication. 
They  began  publishing  their  views  as  early  as  1819. 
In  April,  1882,  they  began  the  publication  of  a 
monthly  devoted    to    Sabbath  reform,   an    8    page 


502  SABBATH    AND    SUKDAY. 

paper  called  the  Outlook.  It  started  with  a  circula- 
tion of  5", 000,  mainly  among  clergymen  ;  which  was 
well  sustained  for  two  years.  At  the  opening  of  the 
third  volume,  it  was  enlarged  to  32  pages  and 
changed  to  a  quarterly  under  the  title  of  Tlie  Out- 
look and  Sabbath  Quarterly/.  Its  effect  as  a  means  of 
spreading  truth  and  agitating  the  public  mind  li»s  been 
vp.ry  great.  Its  mfluence  is  increasing  steadily 
among  the  most  thoughtful  of  the  friends  of  Sabbath 
reform. 

A  very  significant  result  of  its  influence  appeared 
in  a  pamphlet  of  44  pages  in  June,  1883,  wherein 
twenty-nine  pages  are  devoted  to  the  Sabbath  ques- 
tion, mainly  to  a  review  of  the  Outlook.  The  title  is 
as  follows :  "The  Two  Great  Questions  of  the  Day." 
"  The  doctrine  of  the  church  as  to  the  authority  of, 
1.  The  Lord's-day.  2.  The  Holy  Scriptures."  In 
the  prefatory  notice  is  the  following  : 

' '  It  will  be  observed  that  the  discussion  of  the 
first  of  these  questions  is  mainly  an  examination  of 
what  has  appeared  in  the  Outlook,  as  that  has  been 
of  late  sent  through  the  post  office  to  our  clergy  ;  of 
the  other  as  it  has  been  treated  for  some  months 
past  by  the  GhurcUman  (New  York)." 

The  opening  pages  detail  how  the  One  Hundredth 
Annual  Convention  of  the  Episcopal  Diocese  of 
Maryland  was  agitated  concerning  the  question  of 
Sunday  observance, at  its  session  in  Baltimore,  May 
30  to  June  1 ,  1883.  The  author  then  pays  his  respects 
to  the  Outlook  as  follows : 

'  *  It  has  been  said  that  to  apply  the  fourth  com- 


SABBATH    AND   SUNDAY.  505 

mandment  to  Sunday,  by  maintaining  that  the  holy 
day  of  the  week  was  transferred  from  the  seventh  to 
the  first  day,  was  a  Puritan  invention.  I  am  not  so  sure 
but  that  we  are  indebted  for  this  very  brilliant 
discovery  to  the  small  but  very  zealous  sect  of 
'Seventh-day  Baptist,'  who  are  themselves  in  some 
respects  the  most  complete  development  of  Puritan- 
ism that  we  have.  Many  who  read  this  will  have 
been  for  some  time  past  receiving  a  well  printed  and 
well  written  little  paper  called  the  Outlook,  de- 
voted most  honestly,  in  some  respects  ably,  to  pro- 
moting the  keeping  of  the  fourth  commandment.  I 
very  soon  saw  that  the  hope  and  purpose  of  it  was  to 
convince  all  the  ('hristians  of  this  naiion,  1st,  that 
the  Lord's-day  had  no  real  religious  authority  ;  and 
then  to  slip  into  the  '  aching  void,'  which  all  thought- 
ful Christians  would  at  once  feel  and  fear — the  sev- 
enth day,  simply  the  Sabbath,  as  the  Jews  keep  it, 

"And  they  did  their  work  very  ingeniously,  ac- 
cording  to  ihdr  ficed  nothns,  conclusively.  Evident- 
ly many  with  other  previous  opinions  were  surprised^ 
disconcerted,  'demoralized'  by  the  argument,,  and  if 
not  quite  surrendering  and  re  enlisting  at  once  with 
their  captors,  '  did  not  know  what  to  say.'"^ 

"  In  what  follows  I  shall  take  the  argumtents  of 
the  Outlook  to  represent  the  notion  controverted,  be- 
cause they  have  undoubtedly  at  this  time,  more  gen- 
eral currency  and  greater  effect  upon  opinion  among^ 
those  who  guide  the  opinions  of  otbere  than  any- 
thing else  in  this  day  and  land.  I  am  sure  that 
many  of  my  faithful  brethren  of  the  clergy  have 
been  more  or  less  persuaded  or  at  least  confused  by 
them."  * 

The  work  of  the  Seventh-day  Baptists,  in  the  mat- 

♦Pamphlet  bv  Rev.  Thomas  S.  Bacon,  D.  D.,  Point  o.f 
Rocks,  Md. 


504  SABBATH     AND    SUNDAY. 

ter  of  agitation,  is  certain  to  increase  as  the  years  go 
by. 

THE  SEVENTH-DAY  ADVENTISTS. 

The  Seventh-day  Adventists  date  from  the  year 
1844,  The  Advent  church  at  Washington,  N.  H., 
received  the  knowledge  of  the  Sabbath  from  two 
isolated  Seventh-day  Baptists.  In  1845,  those  Ad- 
ventists who  had  become  observers  of  the  Sabbath, 
Jbegan  publishing  the  truth  by  means  of  the  printed 
page ;  the  idea  that  the  acceptance  of  Sabbath  was 
4)ne  characteristic  of  the  true  church  in  the  last  days 
was  rapidly  adopted  by  those  who,,  though  disap- 
.pointed  in  1844,  still  held  to  the  belief  that  the  com- 
jng  of  Christ  was  near  at  hand.  Under  the  inspira- 
•,tion  of  this  faith,  the  Seventh-day  Adventists  have 
.pushed  the  knowledge  of  their  views  with  great 
•earnestness,  and  success.  As  an  element  of  agitation 
their  power  is  proportionately  much  greater  than 
itheir  age,  and  is  steadily  increasing. 

WHISKY,  BEER,  AND   SUNDAY. 

Among  the  non-religious  elements  of  agitation,  in 
the  near  future,  a  large  place  must  be  assigned  to 
whisky,  beer,  and  general  holidayism.  These  influ- 
/cnces  are  closely  allied,  and,  though  professing  differ- 
ient  aims,  are  strong  abettors  of  each  other. 
They  are  not  especially  interested  in  the  religious 
features  of  the  question,  but  are  very  sensitive  to 
any  effort  to  enforce  the  existing  Sunday  laws. 
These  influences  will  continue  to  increase  the  agita- 
tion, for  the  following  reasons  : 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  505 

(a)  Sunday  holidayism,  as  opposed  to  Sunday  Sab- 
balhism,  is  rapidly  increasing  among  all  classes. 
The  holiday  is  the  natural  ally  of  all  forms  of  the 
liquor  traffic.  It  is  probable  that  what  has  been 
demonstrated  in  many  cases,  is  true  as  a  rule,  viz., 
that  the  "  Sunday  sales  form  one  half  of  the  rectipts 
for  the  entire  week."  Here  is  a  mighty  financial 
reason  why  the  liquor  interest  should  stand  in  deadly 
opposition  to  the  execution  of  the  Sunday  laws.  Add 
to  this  the  social  and  convivial  interests  and  habits, 
and  we  have  combined  influences,  which  have  grown 
strong  for  many  years,  while  public  opinion  has 
quietly  applauded,  or  indifferently  slept.  Mean- 
while these  same  liquor  interests  have  taken  posses- 
sion of  the  political  machinery  of  the  country,  so 
that  the  execution  of  existing  laws,  or  the  enactment 
of  more  stringent  ones,  is  practically  impossible. 
But  the  long-suffering  public  is  beginning  to  see 
whither  things  are  drifting,  and  an  open  struggle  be- 
tween the  civil  law  and  the  liquor  power  comes  near- 
er every  day.  The  question  of  the  Sunday  liquor 
law  will  play  a  prominent  part  in  the  coming  agita- 
tion, 

(b)  A  possible  conflict  between  the  beer  and  the 
whisky  interests  adds  a  complication,  which,  if  made 
actual,  would  intensify  the  agitation.  As  the  proba- 
bility of  universal  prohibition  increases,  the  beer  in- 
terest will  undoubtedly  jjress  its  already  popular 
claim,  that  beer  is  "  a  temperance  drink,"  and  seek  to 
join  in  an  effort  to  legislate  against  distilled  liquors, 


506  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

in  consideration  of  a  more  open  field  for  beer  ;  to 
gain  tliis,  beer  would  consent  to  eliminate  '•  Brass 
Bands  "  and  noise  from  Sunday,  but  would  insist  on 
free  sale,  "  in  a  quiet  way."  Whether  such  an  un- 
natural state  of  things  shall  occur  or  not,  the  beer 
interest,  for  some  time  past,  has  contemplated  a 
Sunday -law  conflict,  as  one  of  the  probable  things. 
Its  claims  of  great  reserved  strength,  may  be  boastful, 
and  we  venture  no  opinion  as  to  the  number  of  votes 
it  could  rally,  for  the  repeal  of  the  law  against  Sun- 
day selling.  It  is  however  apparent,  from  the  re- 
sults of  the  conflict  in  California,  that  if  the  laws  are 
urged  or  executed,  so  as  to  interfere  with  the  gener- 
al sale  of  beer  on  Sunday,  a  sharp  agitation  will  re- 
sult. That  conflict  will  force  the  consideration  of 
the  question  whether  the  present  laws  do  not 
give  great  advantage  to  the  liquor  interests,  by  en- 
abling them  to  checkmate  just  effort  against  the  sa" 
loons,  by  counter  movements  against  legitimate  bus 
iness  which  the  law  tacitly  permits.  Thus  it  is  evi- 
dent that  nothing  but  the  apathy  of  the  temperance 
men,  in  the  matter  of  the  Sunday  liquor  laws,  can 
prevent  a  wide  spread,  and  exasperating  agitation. 

In  1880,  at  Hartford,  Conn..  F.  W.  Salem  pub- 
lished a  book,  entitled 

"  BEER,  ITS  HISTORY  AND  ITS  ECONOMIC  VALUE  AS  A 
NATIONAL  BEVERAGE." 

Chapter  XII.  of  this  book  opens  with  the  con- 
clusion that  the  habitual  use  of  beer  has  been  con- 
clusively shown  to  reduce  drunkenness  and  crime  by.. 


SABBATH     AND    SUNDAY.  507 

giving  a  mild  stimulant,  in  place  of  the  fiery  distilled 
liquors.  Having  thus  concluded,  the  author  goes  on 
to  say ; 

'  *  There  is  another  subject  which  we  approach 
with  some  reluctance,  knowing  that  however  care- 
fully our  words  may  be  weighed,  there  is  a  large 
number  of  estimable  individuals  throughout  the 
country,  and  particulary  in  the  Eastern  States,  to 
whom  they  will  probably  give  offense.  We  allude 
to  what  is  called  the  Sunday  question,  and  the  topic 
is  treated  here  because  in  this  country  beer  drinking 
is,  in  the  common  mind,  intimately  associated  with 
the  German  Americans  and  their  custom  of  spending 
part  of  Sunday  in  recreation  in  a  beer  garden.  The 
fact  that  they  do  so  has  been  more  than  once  used  as 
an  argument  against  them,  and  against  the  use  of 
beer,  as  if  there  were  any  real  connection  between 
the  character  of  the  drink  and  such  a  custom  on  the 
part  of  its  greatest  consumers,  even  supposing  the 
custom  to  be  actually  harmful  or  immoral.  As  such 
a  feeling  exists,  however,  it  seems  worth  while  to 
call  attention  to  the  fact  that  what  is  knoAvn  as  the 
New  England  Sunday  is  not  an  essential  part  of 
Christianity,  as  so  many  honestly  suppose,  but  some- 
thing tbat  in  the  comparison  with  Christianity  is  new 
and  local.  We  need  hardly  say  that  in  the  early 
da}  s  of  the  church  it  was  distinctly  taught  that  the 
time  of  the  Jewish  Sabbath  was  past,  and  for  several 
hundred  3'ears  this  view  was  generally  held."  .  .  . 

Here  follow  several  quotations  from  the  New  Tes- 
tament, adduced  to  support  the  statement  that  the 
law  of  the  Decalogue  was  done  away  in  Christ,  being 
replaced  by  the  commandment  to  love  God  and  man; 
the  author  insisting  that  "  love  is  the  fulfilling  of  the 
law/"  and  that  "  Jesus  himself  taught  the  disregard 


508  SABBATH  AND  SUNDAY. 

of  the  Sabbath  as  a  day  of  ceasing  from  labor  or  rec- 
reation: " 

' '  The  first  legal  enactment  requiring  the  observ- 
ance of  Sunday  as  a  Sabbath,  was  foisted  upon  ihe 
Christian  world.  A.  D.  321,  by  Constantine  the  Great, 
a  heartless  tyrant,  who  had  caused  seven  members 
of  his  family  to  be  put  to  death  in  cold  blood,  that 
he  might  obtain  political  and  religious  supremacy  ! 
He  embraced  Christianity  because  the  pagan  priests 
and  pontiifs  could  not  grant  him  absolution,  and 
would  not  fraternize  with  such  a  murderous  mon- 
ster !  Hence  he  became  the  father  of  the  so-called 
Sunday  laws.  Even  Constantine's  decree  did  not 
interdict  recreation  nor  the  tillage  of  the  soil.  In 
general,  through  the  Christian  world,  the  day  was  a 
holiday  such  as  it  is  now  on  the  continent  of  Europe. 
There  the  hours  of  service  in  the  churches  fall  usu- 
ally in  the  morning,  and  are  strictly  observed,  while 
the  rest  of  the  day  is  universally  given  to  enjoyment. 
Let  those,  however,  who  are  accustomed  to  cry  out 
at  the  notion  of  a  Continental  Sunday,  remember 
that  tbey  are  themselves  the  innovaters,  and  let  them, 
too,  examine  the  following  passage  from  the  writ- 
ings of  men  whose  names  must  command  respect, 
and  not  one  of  whom  would  speak  in  such  a  matter 
without  mature  consideration." 

Then  come  quotations  from  Archbishop  Whately, 
Milton,  Melancthon,  Calvin,  Luther,  and  Grotius, 
with  the  statement  that  "  Tyndale,  Erasmus,  Paley, 
McKnight  and  a  host  of  other  Christian  authorities, 
were  and  are  of  the  same  opinion  regarding  Sabbath 
observance. "  Of  course  the  quotations  are  all  favor- 
able to  No-sabbathism.  A  letter  from  Benjamin 
Franklin  to  Jared  Ingersoll.  of  New  Haven,  Conn., 
under  date  of   Dec.    11,   1763,   is   also  introduced 


SABBATH    AND     SUNDAY.  509 

to  show  that  Franklin  favored  the  Sunday,  as 
he  had  seen  it  while  traveling  in  Flanders,  rather 
than  as  it  existed  in  New  England,  the  letter  closing 
in  these  words,  "which  would  almost  make  one 
suspect  that  the  Deity  is  not  so  angry  at  that  offense 
as  a  New  England  justice."  Having  thus  sought  to 
fortify  his  position,  Mr.  Salem  proceeds  : 

"  A  correspondent  of  the  New  York  Staats  Zn- 
tufff,  (Nov.  1, 1876),  writes  as  follows :  '  The  Emper- 
or of  Germany  has  made  a  contribution  to  the  dis- 
cussion of  the  Sunday  question  that  is  very  much  to 
the  point.  It  is  an  address  to  the  Prussian  Synod, 
which  had  recently  objected  to  the  holding  of  a  re- 
view on  Sunday,  and  reads  thus:  "He  who  insti- 
tuted the  Sabbath  has  declared  that  the  Sabbath  was 
made  for  man.  and  not  man  for  the  Sabbath.  The 
puritanic  and  Calvinistic  conception  of  the  Sabbath, 
as  a  day  of  penance  and  repentance  has  always  been 
foreign  to  the  feeling  and  taste  of  the  German  peo- 
ple. ' 

"'These  words  of  the  Emperor  will  receive  the 
hearty  assent  of  every  German  American,  and 
priests  and  pietists  may  as  well  understand  that 
Germans  in  America  will  struggle  as  long  for  tht-ir 
free  Sunday  as  Germans  in  tbeir  old  home  have  tor 
a  free  German  Rhine.  They  have  conquered  back 
the  "  Sacred  stream"  and  something  more  into  the 
bargain,  and  we  here  shall  have  no  less  success  in 
securing  a  free  cheerful  Sunday,  if  we  remain  united 
and  true  to  our  principles. 

* '  *  England  formerly  held  the  same  views  that  then 
and  since  have  prevailed  on  the  Continent,  but  grad- 
ually the  liberty  of  the  day  was  restricted  and  its 
character  wholly  changed.' " 

Here  follow  several  pages  of  quotations  from  Eng- 


5i0  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

lisli  Statutes,  from  1278  A.  D.  forward,  showing  how 
the  Sunday  in  England  was  gradually  changed  from 
the  Continental  to  the  Semi-Puritan  type,  closing 
with  the  following  : 

"In  1676,  was  enacted  the  well-known  '  Lord's- 
day  Act,'  of  29,  Car.  II.,  Chap.  7,  which  prohibits 
generally  all  work,  labor  and  business  on  Sunday, 
except  works  of  necessity  and  charity,  and  which, 
with  more  or  less  moditi cation,  forms  the  basis  of 
all  Sunday  laws  now  extant  in  the  United  States." 
.  .  .  "  As  an  historical  matter  the  question  is  not 
very  abstruse  and  the  truth  is  well  enough  known 
to  scholars  everywhere ;  should  there  not  then  be 
charity  for  honest  convictions  ?  " 

Mr.  Salem  then  gives  a  history  of  the  efforts ,  pro 
and  con,  relative  to  the  Sunday  laws,  in  Newark, 
N.  J  ,  in  1879,  and  concludes  with  these  words  : 

"The  matter  made  a  great  excitement  and  called 
out  many  bitter  paragraphs  on  both  sides,  but  chief- 
ly among  the  more  narrow-minded  and  Pharisaical 
of  (the)  so-called  religious  press.  We  have  no  space 
nor  disposition  to  go  into  the  details  of  their  criticism, 
even  for  the  sake  of  illustrating  how  far  misrepre- 
s^tation  and  inuendo  may  be  made  to  stand  in  place 
of  careful  statement  and  sound  argument.  The  case 
has  been  spoken  of  because  it  is  in  some  sense  typi- 
cal, because  it  represents  the  course  of  public  thought 
and  feeling,  and  the  change  which  even  within  two  or 
three  generations  has  come  over  the  rigid  enactments 
of  puritan  early  settlers.  These  Puritans  did  much 
good  but  it  was  all  tempered  and  shadowed  by  an 
austere  severity  that  has  no  merit  in  itself  and  that 
crushes  out  much  the  better  part  of  life,  and  ob- 
scures many  a  truth  that  in  itself  is  clear  as  noonday. 
The  mind  of  the  people  has  changed.     It  is  time  that 


SABBATH    A^D   SUN^DAY.  511 

the  law  should  be  changed  also.  The  Christian 
Union  has  said,  'The  sooner  the  issue  is  made  in 
Chicago  between  a  whole  Sabbath  and  none  at  all, 
the  sooner  the  Christian  element  in  the  community 
will  win  the  victory  it  will  deserve.  Half  a  Sabbath 
is  hardly  worth  fighting  for.'  We  say  that  the  best 
rule  for  observing  the  day  is  that  which  gives  the 
greatest  amount  of  harmless  freedom  and  enjoyment 
to  the  greatest  number,  each  according  to  his  own 
judgment  and  conscience.  Our  foreign  element  is 
very  large  and  has  its  own  beliefs  and  traditions,  as 
dear  and  as  implicitly  held  as  those  of  any  one  whose 
training  and  practice  have  been  after  the  strictest 
Sabbatarian  pattern.  .  .  . 

' '  We  close  as  we  began,  with  the  words  which  seem 
to  us  to  indicate  the  only  practical  road  to  real  tem- 
perance and  record  again  our  motto 

"beer  against  whisky."* 
The  extent  of  the  "Beer"  influence  on  the  coming 
history  of  the  Sunday  question  in  America,  cannot 
be  easily  measured.  The  use  of  beer  is  a  pf  rmanent 
element  in  the  observance  of  Sunday.  Those  inter- 
ested in  its  manufacture,  sale  and  use,  are  banded 
together.  The  "Beer  Brewers  Association  "  of  the 
United  States  is  a  strong  and  widely  extended  or 
ganization.  It  held  its  first  congress  in  1862. 
Since  that  time  each  annual  congress  has  been 
marked  by  an  increase  in  the  work  of  enlarging  and 
consolidating  its  influence.  The  friends  of  beer  do 
not  hesitate  to  claim  for  it  exemption  from  all  Sun- 
day restrictions.  The  pecuniaty  interests  represented 
by  it  are  very  great.     Mr.  Salem's  history,  referred 


*  History  of  Beer,  etc.,  chap.  13,  pp.  156-165. 


512  SABBATH    AND   SUNDAY. 

to  above,  gives  figures  in  detail  and  the  following 
summary  : 

'After  careful  investigation  of  the  most  trust- 
worthy daUi  we  find  that  there  are  more  than  three 
hundred  wMion  dollars  invested  in  breweries,  malt- 
houses  and  other  adjuncts  of  the  manufacture  of 
beer  in  the  United  states.  The  direct  investment, 
however,  is  not  the  only  thing  to  be  considered.  A 
business  of  this  magnitude  furnishes  occupation  not 
merely  to  vast  numbers  of  laborers,  but  also  to 
thousands  of  men  who  follow  some  profession  or 
trade,  such  as  architects,  civil  engineers,  masons, 
carpentei-s,  coopers,  copper-smiths,  wagon  and  har- 
ness-makers, and  the  like  '  * 

Considered  in  the  light  of  the  present  facts,  as  pro- 
ductive of  results  in  the  near  future,  the  "  Beer  In- 
terest "  alone,  promises  to  be  a  more  important  fac- 
tor in  the  question  of  Sunday  and  Sunday  laws, 
than  any  other  one  secular  element,  not  excepting  the 
"  Railroad  interest."  We,  th  ref ore,  feel  justified  in 
occupying  some  more  space  with  it  in  order  to  give 
the  reader  a  full  view  of  the  case..  YhQBiewerii  Ga- 
zette, New  York,  for  April  15,  1873,  Vol.  3,  No.  4, 
has  the  following  : 

"  By  far  the  larger  proportion  of  the  inhabitants  of 
the  United  States  are  of  foreign  extraction,  who, hav- 
ing adopted  this  country,  have  become  entitled  to  all 
the  privileges  of  citizenship.  The  habits  and  cus- 
toms of  their  various  nationalities  are  strong  upon 
them,  and  they  are  untrammeled  by  the  Puritanical 
prejudices  which  are  a  distinguishing  characteristic  of 
the  so-called  temperance  party  ;  therefore  when  their 
rights  and  privileges  are  tampered  with,  and  their 

*  Hist,  of  Beer,  etc.,  pp.  76,  77. 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  513r 

social  habits  subjected  to  legislative  interference,  the- 
result  will  be  dangerous  in  the  extreme.  Politico- 
theological  enthusiasts  will  have  a  tremendous  battle 
to  fight,  and  the  war  will  be  carried  into  the  enemy'* 
country  with  a  vengeance." 

Then  follow  certain  statements  concerning  a  bill 
then  recently  before  the  Assembly  of  the  State  of 
New  York,  which  sought  to  obtain  freedom  for  lager 
beer  from  all  "  Sunday  and  excise  laws,"  together 
with  the  arguments  of  Jacob  Worth,  Member  from 
Kings  County,  in  favor  of  the  bill.  In  that  argu- 
ment the  third  proposition  was  as  follows  : 

"  Lager  beer  is  the  habitual  beverage  of  that  ex- 
tensive proportion  of  the  citizens  of  the  United 
States,  who  are  recognized  alike  for  their  social 
geniality  and  peaceable  industry  ;  therefore  it  oufht 
noi  to  be  subject  to  prohibitory  or  Sunday  laws,  an^ 
tagonistic  to  ihe  national  habits  of  those  citizens!" 

In  support  of  this  proposition,  the  following^ 
among  other  things,  was  said  : 

"There  is  an  argument  which,  we  believe,  is  a» 
powerful  as  any  that  can  be  adduced,  why  Sunday 
restrictions  should  be  removed  in  the  matter  of  malt 
liquors.  It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that,  the  indus- 
trious classes,  after  a  week  of  toil,  are  peculiarlv  in- 
clined for  relaxation  and  enjoyment  on  the  seventh 
day,  the  only  day  in  the  week  they  can  legally 
claim  for  leisure,  and,  on  such  a  day,  they  invariably 
provide  themselves  with  drink,  as  well  as  meat  suit- 
able for  the  occasion.  Whether  it  is  not  better,  then, 
to  encourage  them  in  the  consumption  of  a  mild  and' 
sober  beverage,  such  as  is  lager  beer,  than,  by  re- 
strictive and  prohibitory  measures,  force  them  to  store 
in  their  houses  ardent  spirits,  which  are  more  partic- 
ularly liable  to  abuse.  They  cannot  keep  beer,  if. 
(33) 


ol4  SABBATH    AND   SUNDAY. 

becomes  stale  and  flat;  but  they  can  keep  spirits. 
Under  these  circumstances,  then,  we  contend,  it  is 
most  desirable  to  exempt  lager  beer  from  Sunday  re- 
striction. 

"  Whilst  respecting  the  religious  feelings  of  those 
who  look  upon  the  institution  of  the  Seventh-day 
(Sunday?)  as  peculiarly  sacred,  the  citizens  of  the 
United  States  who  claim  the  right  to  enjoy  them- 
.  selves  after  their  national  manner  prefer  to  incline 
to  the  creed  that  '  the  Sabbath  was  made  for  man, 
and  not  man  for  the  Sabbath  ; '  and  until  some  better 
way  is  shown  them  by  reason  and  argument,  not  by 
petty  tyranny  or  force,  they  will  continue  so  t(»  enjoy 
themselves.  To  seek  to  prevent  them  is  poor  policy 
on  the  part  of  the  Prohibitionists  ;  for  beer  will  con- 
tinue to  be  drank  on  Sunday,  as  well  as  Monday 
while  the  world  lasts.  "  * 

"  The  Thirteenth  Annual  Congress  of  the  Chief  As- 
-fiociation  of  the  Brewers  of  the  United  States  "  was 
held  at  Cleveland  in  June,  1873.  The  reports  and 
addresses  on  that  occasion  were  full,  and  in  some 
points,  very  outspoken  and  severe  upon  those  phases 
of  the  beer  question  which  are  affected  by  the  Sun- 
day laws.  The  "Puritan"  element  is  arraigned  in 
no  measured  terms.  Among  other  things  it  said  of 
them  : 

"  The  so-called  Temperance  and  Sunday  laws  are 
their  chief  weapons,  and  especially  directed  asjainst 
the  immigrants  and  their  descendents  not  of  English 
Puritanical  stock.  1  hey  are  even  now  preparing 
to  have  their  Puritanical  creed  made  the  State  religion 
of  the  whole  country.  Kestless  as  they  are,  they 
will  go  from  one  step  to  another,  and  religious  per- 

*  Brewers'  Gazette,  1873,  pp.  81-84. 


SABBATH    AND   SUNDAY.  515 

secutions  will  soon  commence  to  be  again  inaugu  - 
rated  by  them."  .  .  . 

"  Congress  shall  make  no  law  respecting  an  estab- 
lishment of  religion,  says  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States.  The  same  applies  to  State  legisla- 
tures ;  otherwise  Brigham  Young  would  be  justified, 
by  local  option  or  otherwise,  to  force  others,  not  his 
followers,  to  go  into  the  polj'gamy  business  and 
show  obedience  to  his  sort  of  religion.  The  Puritans 
have  just  as  little  right  to  insist  upon  the  strict  ob- 
servance of  their  Puritanical  Sabbath."  .  .  .  "The 
Israelite  cannot  force  us  into  the  observance  of  his 
Sabbath,  and  we  have  no  more  right  to  compel  him 
to  observe  our  Sunday.  Religious  liberty  is  one  of 
the  cardinal  principles  underlying  this  government. 
There  is  only  one  country  in  the  world  where  Sun- 
day is  observed  as  here,  and  that  is  Scotland.  The 
consequences  have  indeed  been  most  dismal  to  the 
population  of  that  little  country.  Formerly  the 
working-class  considered  the  Sunday  a  holiday,  and. 
after  the  arduous  labors  of  the  week,  a  dny  of  recre- 
ation for  body  and  mind.  They  enjoyed  themselves 
in  the  circle  of  their  lamilies  on  Sunday,  in  open  air, 
at  a  glass  of  ale  and  beer.  Now.  after  the  Sunday 
laws,  similar  to  ours.have  been  established  the  J^cotch 
workman  goes  on  Saturday  evening  to  the  gin  and 
whisky  houses,  and  returns  from  there  not  only 
drunk,  but  with  a  supply  of  the  needful  in  a  bottle 
or  jug  under  his  arm  for  the  next  day— the  Puritani- 
cal Sabbath."* 

After  detailing  the  disadvantages  under  which  the 
beer  business  is  placed  by  temperance  legislation, 
Louis  Schade,  attorney  for  the  association,  added  the 
following : 

"  That  state  of  affairs  cannot  last  any  longer. 


*  Brewers'  Gazette  for  June,  1873.  p.  153, 


616  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

is  a  question  with  you  of  '  to  be  or  not  to  be. '  You 
have  to  give  up  passive  resistance  and  take  the  offen- 
sive. Your  opponents  will  not  stop  until  they  have 
destroyed  you.  In  one  State  they  have  already  suc- 
ceeded in  accomplishing  it.  You  are  in  the  right, 
and,  therefore,  if  you  do  not  want  to  be  regarded  as 
cowards,  you  must  fight.  There  is  no  peace,  no 
compromise  possible  with  fanatics  and  corrupt  hyp- 
ocrites." .  .  . 

"  Shall  we  submit  to  that  tyranny  any  longer  ?  It 
is  in  our  power  to  put  a  stop  to  that  contemptible 
state  of  servitude  immediately,  if  we  only  will  be 
united.  It  is  not  a  question  about  lager  beer,  as  the 
Puritans  sneeringly  assert ;  it  is  a  question  of  civil 
and  religious  liberty.  We  are  not  standing  alone  in 
that  great  struggle.  The  Irish  and  all  other  foreign 
born  citizens  will  be  with  us  They  cannot  sepa- 
rate themselves  from  us  as  they  are  in  the  same  ship 
with  us.  For  the  Puritans  hate  them  as  bitterly  as 
us  Many  of  the  free-minded  native  citizens  will 
j«  in  us,  and  the  Southern  people,  trampled  down  by 
the  iron  yoke  of  Puritanical  tyranny,  will  pray  for 
our  success.  The  immigrants  will  never  forget  that 
in  1855,  when  those  Puritans  were  attempting  to  en- 
slave and  disfranchise  them,  the  Southern  people 
came  to  their  rescue.  The  following  table  will  show 
that  it  is  an  easy  task  to  free  the  country  of  rampant 
hypocrisy,  bigotry  and  corruption."  .  .  . 

"  It  will  be  seen  that  the  foreign  born  citizens  and 
their  children  are  strong  enough  in  every  one  of 
those  States  (fifteen  in  number)  to  turn  the  scale  in 
favor  of  either  one  or  the  other  of  the  contending 
parties.  In  the  most  of  those  States  it  can  even  be  done 
by  the  German  vote  alone.  It  is,  therefore,  for  the 
liberal  people  but  necessary  to  be  united  and  in  earn- 
est to  give  the  death  blow  to  Puritanical  tyranny. " 

"  The  future  is  ours.  The  enormous  influx  of  im- 
migration will,  in  a  few  years,  overreach  the  Puri- 
tanical element  in  every  State  in  the  Union.     The 


SABBATH    AND   SUNDAY.  517 

present  exceptional  and  anomalous  state  of  affairs 
cannot  last.  The  dark  scenes  of  the  times  of  the 
Connecticut  blue  laws  cannot  reappear.  Let  us  or- 
ganize! Let  it  be  our  duly  to  not  rest  or  sleep  until 
the  Goddess  of  Libt  rty  can  again  show  her  face  un- 
veiled on  this  continent."  * 

The  "  tables"  referred  to  by  Mr.  Schade  were  ar- 
ranged in  view  of  the  "majorities  in  the  election  of 
186S,  and  the  number  of  foreigners  and  their  chil- 
dren in  various  States  in  1870."  If  the  tables  thus 
made  gave  ground  for  the  threats  contained  in  the 
words  quoted  above,  surely  the  enormous  influx  of 
foreigners  between  1870  and  1885  has  been  such  as 
to  add  double  meaning  to  the  thought  that  any  per- 
sistent effort  to  enforce  the  present  Sunday  laws, 
would  result  in  making  their  repeal  a  direct  issue. 
The  "  balance  of  power  "  between  the  parties  will 
probably  keep  the  issue  out  of  national  politics  for  a 
time.  But  the  issue  must  be  made  soon,  or  late,  or 
else  the  Sunday  laws  must  be  allowed  to  sink  out  of 
sight,  dead  and  buried.  Much  more  might  be  added 
from  similar  speeches,  resolutions,  etc.,  uttered  from 
year  to  year  up  to  date  But  enough  has  been  given 
to  indicate  that  this  "liberal  element,"  this  "lager 
beer  question "  has  already  placed  a  new  factor  in 
the  Sabbath  reform  problem  in  America,  which  fac- 
tor will  bear  no  unimportant  part  in  the  final  solu- 
tion. 

RAILROADS. 

The  facts  which  crowd  portions  of  this  chapter  show 

*Ib.,  pp.  155-157. 


518  SABBATH    AND   SUli^DAY. 

that  the  money-king  has  come  to  the  front  rapidly  as 
an  actor  in  the  drama  of  agitation.  Business  and  pleas- 
ure combine  to  seek  his  alliance  and  to  give  him  aid. 
Both  these  demand  "  boats  and  trains,"  and  stock- 
holders and  employes  are  not  opposed  to  "turning 
an  honest  penny,"  in  the  service  of  the  king.  It  is 
easy  to  evade  the  letter  of  the  law  under  the  plea  of 
"  necessity,"  and  so  it  has  come  to  pass  that  the  tide 
of  Sunday  business  swells  enormously,  year  after 
year.  The  "Sunday  newspapers"  have  come'in  a 
like  a  flood,  and  covet  the  lightnings  of  heaven  to 
aid  in  their  circulation.  Steam,  at  a  mile  a  minute, 
is  slow  for  them.  Thus  do  the  elements  of  agita- 
tion rush  to  the  front,  and  tower  to  the  skies. 
Many  of  the  better,  and  all  of  the  worst  elements  of 
the  land  are  liaked  together  in  the  work  of  disre- 
garding Sunday.  Unless  the  churches  make  some 
defense,  far  more  effective  than  they  have  yet  done, 
business,  pleasure  and  dissipation  will  take  the 
field,  without  resistance.  If  the  friends  of  the  Sun- 
day do  rally,  for  a  definite  struggle,  the  agitation 
will  be  increased  in  the  ratio  of  their  earnestness. 
Whatever  results  may  follow,  the  question  can  never 
go  back  to  its  former  status  of  quiet  and  compara- 
tive unimportance.  The  "Sunday  Question"  has 
come  to  stay. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 
The  Verdict  of  WisTORf. 


History  is  more  than  [the  chronological  arrange- 
ment of  events.  It  is  always  an  organic  process,  in 
which  principles  and  ideas,  causes  and  results,  move 
forward  in  a  vital  development.  Such  a  develop- 
ment is  not  necessarily  improvement.  Human 
choices,  in  the  domain  of  man's  agency,  introduce 
discord  by  disobedience,  and  produce  temporary 
deflections  in  the  general  current.  But  under  all 
disturbances  of  the  surface,  eternal  truths  are  work- 
ing on  towards  specific  and  legitimate  result*.  Thfe 
ongoing  of  the  ideas  and  purposes  of  God  is  the  basis 
of  all  real  history.  This  is  not  fatalism  nor  arbitrary 
decree,  but  rather  an  all-embracing  plan  which  gives- 
full  place  and  free  play  to  human  choices,  within  the 
limits  of  human  knowledge  and  power.  The  ulti^ 
mate  fiat  of  God  in  this  plan  is  this:  No  human  choice- 
or  disobedience  shall  be  permitted  to  make  ship- 
wreck of  the  general  and  ultimate  good  for  which  alF 
things  are  created.  So  far  as  we  can  see,  evil  choices- 
and  persistent  disobedience  do  bring  individual  ruin. 
But  God  is  ever  working  above  and  through  all 
these  conflicts,  vindicating  truth,  compelling  justice^ 


520  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

and  ordering  all  things  for  the  greatest  good  of  his 
fjreation.  Therefore  it  is  that  startling  develop- 
ments appear  along  the  line  of  history,  wherein 
errors  and  evils  are  suddenly  overwhelmed  in  their 
own  ruin.  When  God  speaks  thus,  men  are  hum- 
bled or  destroyed.  These  results,  epochs,  are  the 
verdict  of  God.  They  are  an  expression  of  the  will 
of  the  Most  High  concerning  creeds,  methods  and 
deeds.  These  are  the  voice  of  God.  Whoever 
beeds  them  stands  with  God.  Whoever  disregards 
them  defies  God.  These  verdicts  are  final,  unalterable. 
'Christ  recognized  them  when  he  said:  "By  their 
fruits  ye  shall  know  them."  And  again  :  "  On  whom- 
soever it  shall  fall,  it  will  grind  him  to  powder."  All 
efforts  to  evade  or  set  aside  these  verdicts  are  foolish 
:and  futile.  When  men  will  not  accept  them,  God  often 
permits  them  to  make  a  second  trial  that  they  may 
ibe  taught  salutar}'  lessons  by  fmding  the  verdict  re- 
affirmed more  decisively  than  before.  Happy  are 
.they  who,  recognizing  the  true  philosophy  of  history, 
Ueed  its  verdicts,  and  are  not  found  fighting  against 
43cod. 

The  facts  embodied  in  the  preceding  pages  seem 
clearly  to  justify  the  following  conclusions  as  being 
the  verdict  of  history. 

First  verdict  MEN  MUST  HAVE  A  SAB- 
BATH. 

The  first  essential  departure  from  the  Sabbath  law, 
its  laid. down  in  the  Decalogue,  appears  in  the  No- 
-sabbathism  that  found  its  earliest  exponent  in  Justin 
Martyr,  about  the  middle  of  the  second  century  of 


SABBATH   AND   SUNDAY.  521 

the  Christian  Era.  Perhaps  a  liberal  construction  of 
the  Pauline  theory  concerning  the  observance  of  days, 
and  the  reaction  from  the  false  Sabbathism  of  the  He- 
brews, had  some  influence  in  the  development  of  this 
great  error.  But  the  most  potent  element,  aided  by  ex- 
aggerated notions  of  "  freedom  under  the  gospel," 
was  the  pagan  influence  which  came  into  the  church 
with  the  converts  from  paganism.  Under  these  cir- 
cumstances the  church  drifted  rapidly  toward  the 
great  apostasy.  This  No-sabbathism  said:  "  There  is 
no  sacred  time  under  the  gospel.  He  keeps  a  con- 
tinual Sabbath  who  lives  holy  each  day."  From  the 
middle  of  the  second  century  forward,  this  theory 
was  taught  by  the  leading  Fathers.  But  the  hearts 
of  the  people  were  truer  to  the  Sabbath  idea  than 
the  theories  of  the  leaders  were,  and  while  polemists 
and  philosophers  taught  that  there  was  no  sacred 
time,  ana,  while  hatred  for  Judaism  was  degrading 
and  rendering  unpopular  the  Sabbath,  semi-religious 
fasts  and  festivals  increased,  in  answer  to  this  un- 
conscious demand  fi)r  the  sacred  time.  The  Sun's 
day  had  been  a  leading  weekly  pagan  festival  for 
many  centuries.  After  the  middle  of  the  second 
century,  Sunday  gradually  assumed  the  character  of 
a.  joyful  festival  in  the  church,  in  honor  of  the  sup- 
posed resurrection  of  Christ  on  that  day.  In  the 
same  way,  Wednesday  and  Friday  became  fasts  in 
memory  of  his  sufferings.  Sunday  as  a  joyful  festival, 
gradually  assumed  pre-eminence  over  the  fasts  and 
the  Sabbath,  and,  as  all  converts  from  paganism  were 
accustomed  to  honor  it  as  the  Sun's  day,  it  formed 


522  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

a  common  ground  where  the  two  elements,  paganism 
and  apostatizing  Chiiuianity  met.  This  gradual 
elevation  of  Sunday  was  not  due  to  any  Sabbatic 
character,  such  as  the  SabbatU  possessed.  Pagan 
Rome  had  scores  of  religious  and  semi  religious  fes- 
tivals, which  the  civil  law  made  as  sacred  from 
labor  as  Constantine's  first  edict,  of  A.  D.  321,  made 
the  "  Venerable  day  of  the  Sun."  The  law  of  the 
soul's  need  is  illustrated  in  all  the  succeeding  centuries. 
When  the  Sabbath  had  been  driven  out  from  the 
great  body  of  the  church,  and  the  night  of  the  mid- 
dle ages  shut  down,  fasts  and  festivals  increased  un- 
til the  church  was  burdened  as  with  a  crushing 
weight.  It  was  the  abnormal  hungering  of  souls  in 
the  darkness  which  brooded  over  a  Sabbathless 
church.  All  these  facts  conspire  to  prove  that  hu- 
manity demands  some  form  of  sacred  time.  The 
No-sabbath  theory  cannot  drive  out  this  inherent  de- 
mand. Humanity  feels  the  need  and  obeys  its  be- 
hests, instinctively.  If  this  obedience  be  imperfect 
and  perverted,  the  proof  of  need  is  not  the  less  abso- 
lute. This  universal  expression  of  human  need  is 
history's  verdict :  Men  must  have  a  S'lbbaih. 

In  this  we  have  spoken  mainly  of  man's  spiritual 
and  religious  needs.  Not  deeming  it  necessary  to 
discuss  the  physical  necessity  for  the  Sabbath,  which 
is  acknowledged  by  all,  even  No-sabbathists. 

Second  verdict.     A  Sabbath,  cannot  be  maintained- 
without  Divine  Avihoriti/. 

The  history  of  the  Sabbath  under  Judaism  is  the 
first  testimony  on  this  point.     The  Sabbath  law  is  ■ 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  523 

especially  hedged  by  divine  authority,  and  rests  on 
divine  example.  Nothing  less  could  have  establish- 
ed it,  or  enforced  its  observance.  Sabbath  desecra- 
tion was  a  prevailing  sin  aroong  the  Jews,  hence 
the  restrictions  which  at  last  grew  about  it  in  false 
formalism,  until  its  true  character  was  almost  lost. 
Under  the  same  demand  for  a  real  or  a  supposed  di- 
vine authority,  the  multitude  of  holy  days  which 
grew  up,  from  the  fourth  century  forward,  and 
which  crushed  the  church  from  the  seventh  to  the 
fifteenth  century,  were  without  adequate  power  over 
the  people  until  the  church  succeeded  in  as- 
suming divine  authority,  and  thus  spoke  to  the  peo- 
ple as  God,  The  people  finally  accepted  the  voice  of 
church  as  the  voice  of  God,  and  each  day  named  by 
the  church  came  to  deemed  as  divinely  ordered.  It 
does  not  weaken  this  conclusion  to  say  that  those 
were  times  of  ignorant  credulity,  for  even  this  ignor- 
ant credulity  did  not  yield  willing  obedience  without 
the  influence  of  an  authority  recognized  as  divine, 
and  supported  by  many  signs  and  pretended  mira- 
cles. Without  the  introduction  of  this  element  of 
divine  authority,  there  is  no  doubt  but  that  the 
fruitage  of  No-sabbathism  would  have  been  absolute 
chaos  and,  in  the  end,  the  entire  destruction  of  the 
Sabbatic  idea.  The  demand  for  divine  authority  is 
as  necessary  to  the  continued  existence  of  the  Sab- 
bath idea,  as  the  Sabbath  idea  is  necessary  to  the  de- 
mands of  the  soul-life  and  religious  culture  of  humani- 
ty. 

This  conclusion  is  supported  with  equal  power  by . 


524  SABBATH    AND  SUNDAY. 

the  the  facts  of  history  since  the  "Reformation." 
Those  parts  of  Protestant  Christendom  which  have 
held  to  No-sabbathism  long  enough  to  bear  ripened 
fruit  have  virtually  lost  the  Sabbath  idea  as  well  as 
the  Sabbath-day,  while  Roman  Catholic  countries 
have  been  for  centuries  without  any  essential  Sab- 
bath. A  holiday  for  rest,  recreation  and  debauchery 
is,  in  no  Biblical  or  religious  sense,  a  Sabbath. 
Thus  history  shows  that  when  the  divine  element  is 
eliminated  from  the  Sabbath  question,  or  when  the 
false  claims  of  divine  power  on  the  part  of  the  church 
arc  set  aside  by  increasing  intelligence,  the  day  and 
the  idea  are  both  lost ;  and  people  sink  into  social 
and  physical  dissipation  according  to  the  state  of 
civilization  in  any  given  locality. 

Third  verdict.  All  com^jromise  between  the  Sabbath 
and  No-sabbathism  is  weak  and  ephemeral. 

The  circumstances  under  which  the  Puritan  com- 
promise between  the  Sabbath  and  the  Sunday  was 
undertaken  were  strongly  marked.  The  English- 
speakiog  church  was  thoroughly  aroused  on  the 
question  of  reform.  The  second  stage  of  reforma- 
tion had  been  reached.  Men  stood  face  to  face  with 
the  question:  "  Which  is  the  ultimate  authority, 
God's  Word  or  the  church  ?  "  In  the  presence  of 
such  a  question  the  Sabbath  became  prominent  at 
once.  Puritanism  answerd:  "  God's  Word  is  the 
ultimate  authority."  Reform  answered  quickly, 
"  What  then  of  the  fourth  commandment  and  the 
Sabbath  ?  "  Trained  for  centuries  under  a  system 
which  was  intensely  anti- Jewish  the  leaders  said: 


SABBATH    AND   SUNDAY.  525 

"  We  cannot  go  back  to  the  Sabbath;  that  would  be 
a  return  to  Judaism."  Pondering  a  while  concern- 
ing the  dilemma,  Puritanism  said  :  "I  see  it.  The 
law  is  binding,  but  the  day  is  not.  We  can  transfer 
the  law  from  the  seventh  day  to  the  first  day,  and 
all  will  be  well.  We  can  take  this  much  liberty  on 
general  principles.  Under  the  white  heat  of  re- 
form this  theory  was  accepted  and  acted  upon  at 
once.  Strongly  supported  by  civil  laws  the  Sunday 
became  rigidly  Sabbatic,  so  far  as  the  Puritans 
were  concerned,  and  offensively  unpopular  with  the 
non-Puritanic.  The  struggle  was  soon  transferred 
to  America,  where  Puritanism  had  a  free  field  with 
every  possible  advantage.  The  State  first  existed, 
practically,  only  in  the  church.  It  was  more  than 
union;  it  was  absorption  or  generation  of  the  State 
and  church.  The  experiment  has  gone  forward  for 
nearly  three  centuries  since  its  inception  in  Europe. 
The  result  is  that  few  representative  men  can  now 
be  found  among  the  leaders  of  thought  who  at 
tempt  to  defend  the  Sunday  as  the  Sabbath,  from  the 
Puritan  stand-point.  Even  the  most  orthodox  now 
admit,  or  virtually  teach  No-sabbathism,  and  defend 
Sunday  only  on  sanitary  grounds,  moral  and  physi- 
cal. Meanwhile  the  Sunday  has  lost  its  Sabbatic 
character  in  a  very  large  degree  throughout  the  land, 
and  with  the  great  majority  of  the  people.  And 
since  the  church  has  continued  to  assert  the  theory 
that  the  Sabbath — Seventh-day — is  Jewish,  the  No- 
sabbath  element  has  regained  the  field.  Thus  the 
weak,  through  well-meant,  compromise  is  dead      If 


526  SABBATH   AND   SUNDAY. 

any  regard  is  paid  to  the  verdict  of  history  on  the 
question  of  compromises  in  general,  and  of  this 
Puritan-Sunday  compromise  in  particular,  no 
compromise  will  be  attempted  in  the  future.  If 
there  shall  be  any  specific  issue  in  the  coming  years 
it  will  be  between  Sunday  as  a  holiday,  and  the  Sev- 
enth-day, in  a  Christian,  rather  than  a  Jewish  dress. 
If  holidayism  does  not  overwhelm  all,  so  that  there 
can  be  no  conflict,  the  battle  of  the  future  will  be 
between  the  only  divinely  appointed  Sabbath  and 
none  at  all.  God's  verdict  concerning  the  evil  and 
weakness  of  compromises  is  as  clear  and  unmistaka- 
ble in  the  death  of  the  Puritan  Sunday,  as  it  was  in 
the  matter  of  American  slavery,  when  he  wrote  the 
verdict  in  blood  on  an  hundred  battle  fields.  If 
there  be  any  Sabbath  in  the  future,  it  will  not  be  the 
weak  offspring  of  compromise. 

Fourth  verdict.  The  general  results  of  Civil  Legis- 
lation have  been  evil. 

Christ  clearly  stated,  and  often  repeated  the  truth: 
"My  kingdom  is  not  of  this  world."  He  taught 
Ihat  his  gospel  was  to  be  the  great  transforming 
power  in  the  world,  but  that  it  was  not  to  rely  upon 
worldly  measures  or  civil  government  for  its  ad- 
vancement and  support.  He  made  no  appeal  to  king 
or  senate,  sought  no  favors  from  governors  or 
princes  ;  he  did  not  even  complete  an  organization  of 
his  immediate  followers.  He  enunciated  the  great 
truths  of  the  gospel,  and  left  them  to  germinate  and 
bear  fruit  through  their  own  inherent  power.  Re- 
ligion belongs  to  the  realm  of  soul-life.     Its  founda- 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  527 

tion  rests  on  love  to  God,  and  hence,  obedience. 
Outward  restraints  cannot  beget  that  love.  In  regu- 
lating the  relations  of  men  to  each  other,  civil  law 
has  its  province.  It  also  has  a  mission  in  the  realm 
of  morals  which  lies  in  these  human  relations.  In 
the  matter  of  duties  towards  God,  under  a  system  of 
religion  like  the  gospel,  civil  law  has  no  place.  Any 
attempt  to  thus  determine  duty  or  prescribe  action 
must  degrade  the  system  and  the  worshiper.  True 
religious  impulses  exist  only  in  the  realm  of  the 
soul's  relations  to  God.  Civil  law  can  neither  create 
nor  destroy  such  impulses.  If,  however,  it  shall  in- 
terfere, making  itself  the  standard  and  the  ultimate 
appeal,  grave  evils  follow.  The  true  standard  is 
practically  set  aside  even  though  it  be  claimed  that 
the  civil  law  is  founded  on  the  divine.  TLe  lower, 
human  standard,  takes  the  place  of  the  higher  and 
divine  one,  thus  casting  out  the  element  of  direct 
divine  authority.  This  weakens  the  whole  question 
and  makes  the  issue  simply  that  of  obedience  or  dis- 
obedience to  the  civil  law.  This  destroys  true  re- 
ligion. 

A  second  evil  follows.  Religious  questions  and 
duties  are  thus  made  to  play  a  part  in  politics,  and 
are  subjected  to  the  schemes  and  manipulations  of 
selfishness  and  trickery.  In  all  politico-religious 
movements  that  which  is  essentially  religious  is  soon 
obscured  or  lost.  In  so  far  as  it  does  remain  it  is 
usually  a  partisan  or  sectarian  element.  Being  thus 
brought  into  the  arena  of  political  strife,  of  plots  and 


628  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

counter-plots,  degeneration  and  spiritual  decay 
are  rapid  ana  latal. 

These  evils  are  apparent  in  all  departments,  and 
all  stages  of  politico-religious  agitation,  and  in  all 
enforced  civil  legislation  concerning  religious  mat- 
ters. The  question  of  the  Sabbath  and  of  Sabbath- 
keeping  has  been  perverted  from  the  time  that  Con- 
stantine  began  his  legislation,  which  was  essentially 
pagan,  to  the  present  hour.  Indeed,  all  union  of 
church  and  and  State,  direct  or  indirect,  is  born  of 
paganism  or  Judaism,  and  not  of  Christianity.  En- 
forced Sunday -keeping  under  ecclesiastico-civil  regu- 
lations, of  whatever  form,  has  not  been  true  Sab- 
bath-keeping. Had  the  matter  been  left  free  from 
interference  by  the  State,  and  left,  like  the  question 
of  personal  repentance,  conversion,  baptism,  or  the 
partaking  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  upon  grounds  whol- 
ly religious  and  personal  between  God's  people  and 
himself,  the  case  would  have  been  far  better,  and 
the  problem  much  nearer  solution  than  it  now  is. 

The  commander  of  a  regiment  during  the  late 
war,  who  ordered  sixteen  men  to  be  detailed  for 
baptism,  because  in  a  religious  revival  in  a  neigh- 
boring regiment,  eight  men  had  been  baptized  as  a 
religious  duty,  is  a  fair  illustration  of  the  folly  of  at- 
tempting to  make  men  religious  by  civil  law.  The 
question  of  Sabbath-keeping  is  purely  a  religious  one 
between  the  church  and  God,  and  it  must  eventually 
be  settled  on  that  ground.  For  fifteen  centuries  the 
church  and  the  State  have  been  trying  to  settle  it  as 
an  ecclesiastical  matter.     The  result  has  been  almost 


SABBATH    AND     SUNDAY.  529 

an  entire  destruction  of  the  true  idea  of  the  Sabbath 
and  of  Sabbath-keeping.     Tlie  province  of  the  civil 
law  in  protecting  conscience  will  be  noticed  further 
on.     But  we  do  not  hesitate  to  repeat,  that  thus  far 
history  records  its  verdict  that  civil  legislation  con-- 
cerniug  the  Sabbath  question  has  been  productive  of' 
far  more  evil  than  good,   that  it  has  delayed  the  solu- 
tion of   the  question,  and  the  demand  of  the  hour  is' 
to  the  civil  law,  hands  off.     Let  the  church  settl^ 
the  question  with  God  and  its  own  experience. 

This  position  is  further  supported  by  the  fact  that 
Sunday  laws  are  wholly  inconsistent  with  the  theory 
of  No-sabbathism,  which  is  now  the  prevailing  theory 
both  in  the  church  and  out  of  it.     If  there  be  no 
sacred  time  under  the  gospel  by  divine  appointment, 
all  efforts  to  create  such  time  are  illogical  and  fool- 
ish.    Human  law  can  create  holidays,  but  has  no 
power  to  make  a  Sabbath.     If  the  popular  theory  be 
correct,  God  leaves  each  man  to  choose  when  and 
how  he  shall  Sabbatize.     By  this  theory  the  New 
Testament  gives  greater   freedom  in  the  matter  of 
Sabbath-keeping  than  it  does  in  the  matter  of  baptism 
and  the  Lord's  Supper.     This  being  true  the  civil 
law  ha^  no  province  in  the  case  except  to  protect 
each  man  in  following  his  convictions  of  duty  as  in 
case  of  baptism,  or  other  religious  ordinances  and 
ceremonies.     It  may  simply  stand  by  and  see  that  no 
man  prevents  his  fellow  from  doing  what  he  deems 
It  his  duty  to  do.     While  it  thus  protects  others  from 
interfering  it  must  not  interfere  nor  dictate      If  any 
law  be  demanded,  or  admisible,  it  must  be  a  general 
(34) 


530  SABBATH    AND     SUNDAY. 

one  applying  to  all  days  alike,  forbidding  disturb- 
ance or  interference  at  any  and  all  times  in  the  mat- 
ter of  worshiping  and  Sabbatizing.  Here  the  law 
must  stop.  It  may  not  say  that  any  man  shall  rest 
or  worship,  or  shall  not  rest  or  worship.  No  civil 
law  can  determine  when  a  man  needs  rest,  nor  how 
much;  nor  when,  nor  how  he  desires  to  worship. 
Both  questions  are  beyond  its  province.  It  is  as- 
sumed that  man  needs  periodic  rest  as  often  as  one 
day  in  seven.  But  this  assumption  is  based  upon,  or 
borrowed  from,  the  Sabbath  law,  and  if  that  law  be 
done  away  as  a  Jewish  code,  surely-  our  civil  law  has 
no  right  to  galvanize  it  into  life  and  falsely  apply  it 
to  another  specific  day. 

When  pressed  by  logic,  the  champions  of  modern 
Puritanism,  as  represented  by  the  publications  of  the 
New  York  Sabbath  Committee  and  similar  docu- 
ments, ' '  beg  the  question  "  by  claiming  that  the  Sun- 
day laws  do  not  attempt  to  enforce  a  religious  ob- 
servance of  that  day.  This  effort  to  show  that  the 
Sunday  laws  are  not  religious  indicates  that  their 
supporters  are  conscious  that  legislation  concerning 
religious  duties  is  illogical  and  evil,  and  that  the 
verdict  of  hitsory  is  against  it.  Document  41,  in  the 
list  of  publications  of  the  New  York  Sabbath  Com- 
mittee, is  devoted  especially  to  this  question,  being 
entitled,  *'  Sunday  Laws  and  Sunday  Liberty."  The 
document  contradicts  itself.  The  general  facts  are 
first  stated  as  follows  : 

"  Our  Sunday  laws  grew  out  of  the  observance  of 
the  Lord's-day,  which  the  earliest  colonists  brought 


SABBATH    AKD   SUNDAY.  531 

with  them  to  these  shores,  and  which  was  deeply 
rooted  in  their  religious  convictions." 

"  In  all  the  original  States  of  the  Union,  laws  pro- 
tecting and  regulating  the  observance  of  the  first  day 
of  the  week  were  among  the  earliest  enacted.  As 
new  States  were  formed,  the  example  was  followed, 
till  now  in  every  State  of  the  Union,  as  well  as  by 
the  Federal  government,  the  weekly  rest-day  is 
recognized  by  law." 

According  to  the  above,  the  Sunday  laws  were  the 
direct  product  of  relgious  observance  of  Sunday  as 
the  Sabbath  of  the  Decalogue,  by  implication  and 
transfer,  "  which  was  deep-rooted  in  the  religious 
convictions  "  of  the  men  who  framed  those  laws.  It 
needs  no  argument  to  show  that  the  laws  were,  there- 
fore, essentially  religious  and  would  not  have  been 
enacted  except  for  men's  religious  convictions.  The 
document  might  have  added  that  they  were  developed 
at  a  time  when  the  church  was  mistress  of  the  State, 
when  religion  dictated  all  legislation.  But  the  next 
paragraph  acknowledges  the  fact  still  further  in  the 
following  words  : 

"  The  Sunday  laws,  occasionally  modified  to  meet 
the  changing  conditions  of  society,  and  differing  in 
some  details  in  the  different  States,  are  yet  alike  in 
their  chief  features,  from  Maine  to  California.  They 
forbid  on  Sunday  common  labor  and  traSic,  public 
and  noisy  amusements,  and  whatever  is  likely  to 
disturb  the  quiet  and  good  order  of  the  day.  They 
make  Sunday  a  non-legal  day,  so  that  ordinary  pro- 
cesses of  courts  are  not  served,  and  contracts  made 
on  Sunday  are  void.  The  courts  and  legislatures  do 
not  sit ;  the  public  business  is  suspended.  In  brief, 
Sunday  is  taken  out  of  the  number  of  ordinary  week 


532  SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY. 

days  and,  so  far  as  possible,  made  free  from  secular 
engagements  and  disturbances. " 

What  is  the  distinction  between  "secular"  and 
the  opposite  ?  Wh}-  do  common  labor  and  traflflc 
and  public  and  noisy  amusements  disturb  the  quiet 
and  good  order  of  Sunday  more  than  of  Monday,  if 
not  on  religious  grounds  ?  If  a  game  of  base  ball  is 
improper,  and  must  be  prevented  by  law  on  Sunday, 
for  civil  reasons,  why  not  on  Monday  ?  What  good 
interest  of  the  commonwealth  is  jeopardized  by  the 
building  of  a  house  on  Sunday,  which  is  not  equally 
jeopardized  by  the  same  act  on  Monday-?  Gambling 
houses  and  whisky  shops  are  dangerous  to  the  com- 
monwealth on  every  day.  They  are  no  more  danger- 
ous on  Sunday  than  on  other  d&js  except  as  the  Sun- 
day laws  enforce  idleness,  and  so  leave  thousands  of 
men  to  be  tempted  to  ruin,  who,  if  allowed  to  pursue 
their  ordinary  avocations  would  not  thus  be  tempted. 
For,  however  much  Puritan-Sunday-lawism  may  be 
startled  by  the  fact,  the  effect  of  the  Sunday  laws  up- 
on the  irreligious  is  to  lead  them  into  temptation,  ac- 
cording to  their  social  status  and  surroundings.  If 
a  man  observes  the  day  in  a  truly  religious  spirit,  he 
is  safe  and  is  benefitted.  To  be  consistent  with  the 
claims  of  modern  Puritanism,  the  law  should  leave 
such  a  man  free  to  follow  his  conscience,  prohibiting 
on  that  day  nothing  which  it  does  not  prohibit  on  all 
days. 

The  next  paragraph  in  this  document  continues  the 
plea  that,  ' '  These  laws  do  not  compel  a  religious 
observance  of  Sunday."    Technically  that  is  true, 


SABBATH     AND    SUJ^DAT.  533 

simply  because  they  cannot.  They  come  as  near  to 
it  as  they  can  by  demanding  cessation  from  labor, ' 
which  is  the  outward  expression  of  a  religious  con- 
viction. 

The  whole  question  is  again  opened  so  as  to  con- 
demn Sunday  legislation,  in  this  same  paragraph,  in 
these  words  : 

"  It  it  true  that  the  great  majority  of  Americans 
hold  the  first  day  of  the  week  as  set  apart  by  God, 
and  to  be  kept  holj"  to  him.  They  know  well  that 
in  its  religious  observance  lie  its  best  use  and  benefit; 
and  that  when  religious  regard  for  it  ceases,  no  hu- 
man laws  can  prevent  its  becoming,  as  in  many 
parts  of  Europe,  a  day  of  dissipation  to  some,  of 
common  drudgery  to  others." 

It  is  true  indeed  that  ' '  when  religious  regard  for 
it  ceases,  no  human  law  can  prevent"  its  deca3^ 
Since  321  A.  D.,  the  European  church  has  made  the 
question  of  Sunday-keeping  a  matter  of  civil  legisla- 
tion. Under  such  a  system  its  non-Sabbatic  charac- 
ter has  been  gradually  inevitable.  It  is  now  a  day  of 
"  dissipition"  or  "  drudging,"  because  civil  legisla- 
tion and  false  theories  have  driven  the  religious  ele- 
ment out  of  the  question  The  same  result  appears 
in  America,  where  Sunday  observance  grows  less 
and  less  religious,  every  year.  There  is  but  one 
solution  of  the  problem  and  that  will  be  found  in  re- 
manding the  question  to  the  Bible  and  the  church,  as 
a  purel}'  religious  one.  On  that  ground  it  must 
stand  or  fall.  So  long  as  the  civil  law  continues  to 
usurp  and  pervert,  the  case  will  grow  worse  and 
worse. 


534  SABBATH  AND  SUNDAY. 

Many  good  people  are  misled  and  prevented  from 
seeing  the  true  verdict  of  history  by  arguments  like 
the  following,  with  which  the  paragraph  in  Document 
41  closes: 

"  The  laws  of  the  State  and  the  requirement  of  re- 
ligion may,  in  some  instances,  coincide.  Thus  each 
forbids  murder,  stealing,  incest.  But  the  law  for- 
bids these,  not  as  offenses  against  God,  but  as  crimes 
against  man.  The  law  has  to  do  with  the  relations 
of  men  to  each  other,  and  not  with  the  relations  of 
men  to  God." 

This  argument  is  faulty,  in  that  it  confounds  facts. 
Certain  religious  duties  exist  wholly  in  the  realm  of 
man's  relation  to  God,  as  an  individual.  Others 
spring  from  the  relations  which  men  sustain  to  each 
other.  These  last,  God  requires,  and  civil  law  may 
rightfully  enforce  them.  "  Murder,  stealing,  in- 
cest," etc.,  belong  to  the  latter  class.  But  because 
the  law  of*  God  and  the  law  of  man  coincide  in  these 
points,  it  does  not  follow  that  the  civil  law  may  in- 
terfere in  man's  relation  to  God.  Laws  against  profane 
swearing  have  long  been  a  "dead  letter,"  since  they 
have  neither  force  nor  meaning  when  applied  to  a 
crime  which  is  against  God,  and  which  men  will  not 
refrain  from  unless  they  love  God,  California  might 
pass  a  law  forbidding  all  heathen  forms  of  worship 
among  the  Chinese,  and  compelling  them  to  go 
to  church,  but  it  would  not  make  the  Chinamen 
Christians,  and  it  would  be  in  violation  of  the  funda- 
mental principles  of  the  gospel.  Sunday  laws  are 
equally  so,  as  far  as  they  refer  to  the  religious  char- 
acter of  the  day.      The  same  would  be  true  of  civil 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  535 

legislation  concerning  the  seventh,  or  any  other,  day 
as  a  Sabbath.  Only  evil  can  follow  when  the  civil 
law  attempts  to  regulate  the  duties  which  individual 
men  owe  to  God.  The  Jews  were  in  religious  and 
political  childhood.  The  theocracy  was  necessary 
because  of  their  weakness.  Systems  of  ecclesiastico- 
civil  legislation,  which  might  have  been  best  for  the 
Jews,  have  no  place  in  the  nineteenth  century  of  the 
gospel.  The  longer  they  are  retained  the  greater  evil 
will  be  wrought. 

MAJORITY    ARGUMENT. 

Men  seek  to  evade  this  verdict  of  history,  by 
claiming  that  Sunday  laws  are  just  and  beneficial , 
because  they  protect  the  majority  from  being  dis- 
turbed in  their  religious  duties,  and  hence  the  minor- 
ity must  yield,  uncomplaining.  This  is  sophistry. 
There  can  be  no  majority  in  matters  of  conscience 
toward  God.  In  such  things  it  is  indeed  true  that 
"  One  with  God  is  a  majority."  He  is  king  who  is 
loyal  to  God  and  to  his  own  convictions  of  duty.  But 
if  the  argument  be  correct  the  civil  law  should  order 
a  census  of  each  locality,  and  whenever  a  majority 
should  vote  against  keeping  Sunday,  the  law  should 
order  it  not  to  be  kept.  This  is  practical  and  perti  - 
nent  in  the  case  of  Jews  and  Seventh-day  Christians, 
and  in  not  a  few  localities  if  the  principle  claimed  in 
support  of  the  Sunday  laws  were  carried  out,  the 
Sabbath  would  be  protected,  and  Sunday  left  un- 
helped,  or  placed  in  the  patronized  minority  as  the 
Sabbath  now  is.     Neither  is  it  true  that  all  should  be 


536  SABBATH     AND    SUNDAY. 

compelled  to  rest  in  order  that  worshipers  be  undis- 
turbed. Jews  and  Sabbath-keeping  Christians  (and 
Friends,  on  Wednesday)  have  always  been  obliged 
to  worship,  in  cit}"  or  country,  with  no  safeguards, 
except  protection  from  direct  assault  upon  their 
congregations.  All  ordinary  merriment  and  labor  go 
on  around  them,  their  homes  and  churches.  They 
may  have  sometimes  been  annoyed  but  they  have 
not  been  made  irreligious,  nor  driven  from  fealt}^  to 
what  they  deem  a  religious  duty.  On  the  contrary, 
the  Seventh-day  Christians  have  steadily  increased  in 
America  for  more  than  two  hundred  years,  in  spite 
of  disabilities  and  proscription. 

The  truth  is,  there  is  a  lingering  taint  of  the  "In- 
quisition "  in  the  idea  that  any  question  of  religion 
or  conscience  is  to  be  controlled  by  the  majority. 
Republicanism  and  Christianity  agree  that  the  laws 
ought  to  be  so  modified  as  to  grant  protection  to  all 
worshiping  assemblies  alike,  on  whatever  day  they 
may  be  held,  and  whether  attended  by  few  or  many. 
If  Sunday  shall  remain  as  a  civil  holiday,  it  should 
have  no  pre-eminence  over  other  civil  holidays. 
The  settlement  of  the  Sabbath  question  will  be  de- 
layed in  proportion  as  the  civil  law  insists  on  keep- 
ing Sunday  in  its  present  place,  and  the  religious 
character  of  Sunday  will  be  lessened  in  the  same  de- 
gree. The  advocates  of  the  Sunday  Sabbath  seem  to  be 
afraid  to  meet  the  issue  squarely  on  Biblical  grounds, 
for  fear  that  the  Sabbath  will  be  accepted  as  the 
only  divine  appointment,  or  else  that  all  ideas  of  a 
Sabbath  will  be  put  aside.     Such  fears  are  of  little 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY,  537 

avail.  Truth  must  triumph.  Verdicts  of  history 
may  be  delayed  while  men  experiment,  but  nothing 
is  clearer  than  that  all  religious  questions  must  be 
settled  on  religious  grounds,  just  as  all  scientific 
questions  insist  on  settlement  upon  scientific  grounds, 
though  creed-makers  and  ignorance  protest  never  so 
earnestly.  The  sooner  the  church  cuts  loose  from 
the  civil  laws  concerning  Sunday  and  all  similar 
questions,  the  better  will  it  be  for  all  concerned. 

SUNDAY   AND   TEMPERANCE. 

The  temperance  question  is  also  a  complicating 
factor  in  the  matter  of  Sunday  legislation.  The 
State  has  the  right  to  prohibit  liquor  selling  in  be- 
half of  good  order  and  prosperity.  It  has  a  right  to 
increase  the  safeguards  on  civil  holidaj^s,  when  men 
are  more  in  danger  because  of  leisure.  But  a  sys- 
tem of  ' '  prohibition "  on  Sundays,  and  license, 
which  is  protection  rather  than  restraint,  on  other 
days,  is  illogical  and  unjust.  Liquor  selling  and  its 
attendant  evils  are  always  detrimental  to  the  citizen 
and  the  State,  and  should  be  prohibited  on  all  days. 
If  Sunday  leisure  demands  special  protection  let  it 
be  granted.  But  let  t^e  State  take  care  that  it  do  not 
increase  the  evil  by  enforcing  abstinence  from  labor 
on  the  part  of  the  irreligious,  thus  creating  the 
leisure  through  which  much  of  the  dissipation  comes. 
As  the  case  now  stands  the  Sunday  restrictions  are 
of  comparatively  little  value  since  the  machinery  by 
which  the  business  is  propelled  during  the  week,  and 
up  to  midnight  on  "  Saturday,"  cannot  be  stopped  on 
(35) 


538  SABBATH    AN^D   SUNDAY. 

Sunday.  It  may  be  a  little  ' '  slowed  down  "  by  the 
back-door  process,  but  it  does  not  stop.  And  even 
if  it  be  stopped,  those  who  are  planning  for  the 
coming  leisure  can  easily  supply  the  necessary  stim- 
ulants in  such  quantities  as  will  insure  broils  and 
rioting  on  Sunday. 

The  highest  ideal  cannot  be  attained  at  once; 
but  the  duty  of  the  hour,  in  the  light  of  ex- 
perience, is  to  sever  all  connection  between  the 
questions  of  temperance  and  of  Sunday-keeping, 
leaving  each  to  stand  upon  its  own  merits.  Giving 
us  prohibition  instead  of  license,  and  a  settlement  of 
the  Sunday  question  on  Biblical  and  religious 
grounds.  If  the  settlement  of  the  question  on  such 
grounds  shall  restore  the  Seventh-day  Sabbath,  or, 
on  the  other  hand,  give  two  or  more  days  or  parts  of 
days  for  worship  in  each  week,  no  matter  if  it  be  a 
settlement  based  on  truth,  and  free  from  interference 
by  the  civil  law.  Take  the  question  of  Sabbath  re- 
form out  of  politics  out  of  the  realm  of  caucusing 
and  plotting,  and  let  the  church  settle  it  as  it  would 
any  other  religious  issue.  For,  we  repeat,  if 
the  day  ought  to  be  kept  by  divine  authority  the 
civil  law  cannot  strengthen  that  authority,  and  by  a 
false  app  lication  it  may  weaken  and  destroy  it,  and 
if  he  who  does  not  rest  out  of  regard  to  the  Lord, 
does  not  truly  Sabbatize,  his  resting  is  only  an  empty 
form,  or  a  blasphemous  pretence.  Under  the  work- 
ing of  the  civil  law  as  the  prominent  element  af  au- 
t  hority,  Sunday  has  tended  and  must  tend  to  holiday- 


SABBATH    AND    SUNDAY.  539 

ism;  and  with  the  masses,  towards  debauchery.     No 
question  is  settled  until  it  is  settled  right.  . 

It  remains  for  the  people  of  the  United  States  to 
hasten  the  solution  of  the  problem  of  Sabbath  reform 
by  placing  the  question  on  its  true  basis,  or  to  delay 
the  solution  and   insure  the  decline   of   Sunday-sab- 
bathism    by  continuing  to  appeal  to  the  civil  law. 
God  is  patient  and  waits  long  while  men  make  mis- 
takes and  repeat  follies,  but  when  he  has  written  re- 
peated verdicts  in  history,  those  who  heed  are  wise. 
Let  it  be  remembered  that  all  compromise  is  either 
weak  or  wicked,  often  both.     "By  their  fruits  ye 
shall  know  them. "    And  when  fifteen  centuries  of  the 
civil-law  system  have  given  us  the  "  Medieval  Sun- 
day," with  its  false  formalism,  its  forged  miracles 
and  endless  superstition;  the  ''  Continental  Sunday," 
with  its  holidayism  and  revelry;  and  now  the  "  Puri- 
tan Sunday,"  virtually  dead  because  of  unfounded 
assumptions  and  the  weakness  of  compromise  ;  it  is 
is  time  that  other  seed  be  sown,  in  hope  of  a  differ- 
ent harvest.      A  system   that  has    hitherto    borne 
thorns  cannot  be  expected  to  produce  grapes  hereafter. 
It  is  well  known  that  the  anti-Sunday  lawelement, 
as  represented  in  pleasure  seeking,  money  making  and 
liquor  selling,  claims  to  hold  the  "balance  of  power" 
and  the  abihty  to  repeal  the  Sunday  law,  if  the  issue 
should  be  made.     This  may  be   "bravado"   only, 
but  the  facts  are,  that  for  many  years  these  have  all 
defied  or  ignored  the  laws.     Pulpits  and  religious  or- 
ganizations protest,  and  some  minor  currents  of  Sun- 
day desecration  are  temporarily  checked.     Taken  as 


540  SABBATH   AND   SUNDAY. 

a  whole  the  No-sabbath  tide  gathers  force  and  gains 
in  extent  with  each  year,  The  verdict  of  the  past 
is,  that  with  the  present  public  opinion,  the  Sunday 
laws  cannot  be  enforced.  They  find  little  place  in 
the  conscience  of  the  American  people.  A  new  founda- 
tion for  Sabbath  reform  must  be  sought.  It  can 
only  be  found  in  the  source  from  whence  the  Sab- 
bath first  came,  divine  authority.  If  the  church  be- 
lieves that  anj^  divine  authority  does  exist,  it  should 
be  brought  forward  and  made  the  main  issue  at  once. 
Delay  is  weakness.  No-sabbathism  appeals  to  all 
the  lower  elements  of  society.  Pleasure  and  avarice 
and  debauchery,  and  every  lustful  vice  hail  it.  It 
puts  God's  law  and  God's  self  away  from  human 
life.  It  sets  a  premium  on  religious  indifference 
and  open  sin.  The  words  of  the  prophet  come  to 
the  American  church  with  terrible  force,  while  the 
issues  of  these  3'^ears  confront  us  : 

"  If  thou  turn  away  thy  foot  from  the  Sabbath, 
from  doing  thy  pleasure  on  my  holy  day ;  and  call 
the  Sabbath  a  delight,  the  holy  of  the  Lord,  honora- 
ble ;  and  shalt  honor  him,  not  doing  thine  own  ways, 
nor  finding  thine  own  pleasure,  nor  speaking  thine 
own  words: 

Then  shalt  thou  delight  thyself  in  the  Lord  ;  and  I 
will  cause  thee  to  ride  upon  the  high  places  of  the 
earth,  and  feed  thee  with  the  heritage  of  Jacob  thy 
father :  for  the  mouth  of  the  Lord  hath  spoken  it."  * 

Happy  is  he  who  is  not  found  fighting  against 
God  in  order  to  sustain  his  own  theories  and  choices  ; 
truth  is  not  in  numbers  or  in  age,  but  in  conform- 
ity with  the  law  of  God. 

*  Isa.  58  :  13,  14. 


General    Index. 


Note.— A  dash  following  the  page  number  indi- 

cates that  the  subject  is  continued  for  an 

indefinite 

number  of  pages. 

. 

A 

Page. 

Abyssinian  Church. 

Has  always  kept  the  Sabbath, 

223-238 

Acta,  Book  of. 

Is    an    inspired   history   of  the     early 

church, 

21 

Shows  habitual  observance  of  the  Sab- 

bath, 

24-27 

First  day  of  the  week,  mentioned  in,  but 

once, 

28 

Adsy,  Webb. 

Arraigned  for  working  on  Sunday, 

389 

Adveniists,  Seventh-day. 

Origin  and  doctrines, 

400- 

As  agitators  of  the  Sabbath  question, 

504 

Agitation. 

Concerning  Sunday    question,    in    the 

United  States, 

46:^- 

Alhigenses. 

Kept  the  Sabbath, 

205 

(36) 

542  GENERAL    INDEX. 

AUix. 

Statements  concerniog  the  Waldenses,  211 

America. 
Sunday  in,  Colonial  Period,  341 — 

Sabbath  in,  392— 

Jina^pttits. 

Some,  observed  the  Sabbath,  317 

AnatoUus. 

His  Chronology  of  Easter,  125 

Ancient  St/ nan  Documents. 
Claim  that  the  Apostles  ordered  that 

Christians  "  Pray  toward  the  East,"  181 

Also  :  Services  to  be  held  on  Sunday,  181 

Also  :  Services  to  be  held  on  Wednes- 
day, 182 
Also  :  On  the  Sabbath,  182 
Also :    To  keep    the  Festival    of    the 
Epiphany,  182 
Andrews,  Bishop. 

Speech  against  Thraske,  a  Seventh-day 

Baptist,  "^  322—, 

He  coins  the  phrase,  Dominicum  8&i'- 

vasti,  in  that  speech,  52 — 

Andrews,  Rev.  J.  iV^. 

Statements  concerning  Tertullian,  94 

Anti-Sabbath  Convent 'on. 
Held  in  Boston  1848  A.  D.,  497 

Called  by  Garrison,  Parker  and  Whip- 
ple, 497 
Declared  Sundav  laws  unconstitution- 
al.                    '  498 


GENERAL   INDEX.  543 

The  keeping  of  Sunday  unscriptural,  498 
Favored  Sunday  as   a  rest-day  on  hu- 
manitarian grounds,  498 
Was  condemned  by  the  religious  press,  499 

Apology. 

Of  Justin  Martyr,  71 

Apostolic  Fathers. 

General  character  of,  33 

Archelaus,  Bishop. 

Concerning  the  abolition  of  the  Sabbath,  133 

Argument,  Majority. 

Sophistical,  535 

Inconsistent  and  unjust,  535,  586 

Armenian  Church. 

Keeps  the  Sabbath.  389-233 

AtMnasius. 

Says  little  concerning  the  Sabbath  or 
the  Sunday,"  153 

Atterbury,  Bev.  W.  W. 

Author  of    "  Statement  of  Principles 
Concerning  Sunday,  467 

Atwood,  Rev.  E.  8. 

Statements  concerning  American  Sab- 
bath, 417— 

Concerning  Sunday  laws,  420 

Concerning  their  impotence,  434 

Concerning  personal  liberty  and  Sun- 
day, 425 

Concerning  the  apathy  of  the  church  in 
in  the  matter  of  Sunday  observance,  426 


544  GtXEKAL    INDEX. 

Avgaburg  Confession. 

Its  teachings  concerDing  Sunday,  253 

Augustine. 

Sabbath  to  be  observed  spiritually  by 

ceasing  from  sin,  157 

Sabbath   abolislied   with    circumcision 

and  sacrifices,  158 

Not  the  author  of  De  Tempore,  159 

Speaks  of  public  worship  on  tlie  Sal)- 
bath  in  the  fifth  century,  183 

B 

Baclius. 

History  of    New  England,  records  the 
fact  of  correspondence  between  Roger 
Williams  and  others,   and   Seventh- 
day  Baptists,  relative  to  the  Sabbath,      394,  5 
Bailey,  Rev.  James. 
History  of  the  Seventh-day  Baptist  Gen- 
eral Conference,  quoted,  397,  398 
Bampfield,  Rev.  Francis. 
A  Seventh-day    Baptist    author    from 

1672-1677  A.  D.,  332 

His  sufferings  and  imprisonment,  335- 

His  death  in  prison,  335 

Bampfield,  Thomas. 

A   Seventh-day    Baptist    author    from 

1692-1694  A.  D.,  336 

His  books  answered,  by  Prof.  Wallis,  336 

Baptiits,  Seventh-day. 
Organized  in  England,  1650  A.  D.,  339- 


GENERAL    INDEX.  545 

At  Newport,  R  I.,  1671  A.  D.,  393 
Near  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  about  1700  A. 

D.,  397 

In  Northern  N.  J.,  1705  A.  D.,  399 

Work  in  agitating  Sabbath  question,  500— 

Baptists,  Regular. 

Creed  concerning  Sunday,  414 

Barnabas. 

Epistle  of,  a  forgery,  36-39 

Testimony  of  Neander,  36 

Of  Mosheim,  37 

OfEusebius,  37-38 
Of  Prof.    Hackett,  Milner,  Kitto  and 

Domville,  38 

Of  Killen,  Coleman  and  Schaff,  39 

What  it  says  concerning  Sunday,  40 

This  quotation,  often  "garbled,"  41 

Baronius. 

Roman  Catholic  Annalist,  58 
He  defines  Dominicum  as  meaning  the 

"Mass,"  5® 

Baur. 

Concerning  Ignatian  Epistles,  47 

Beer. 

Relation  to  Sunday  observance,  504 

Its  history,  etc.,  506 

"  Against  Whisky,"  511 

Beriedict,  B-iv.  D'Wid. 

Testifies  to  Sabbath  keeping  among  the 

Waldenses.  207, 211 


546  GENERAL   INDEX. 


Bm'kshire,  England. 

Seventh-day  Baptist  church  in, 

840 

Beza. 

Exposition    of    the  fourth   command- 

ment, 

266 

BibU,  The. 

Is   the  ultimate    authority  concerning 

the  Sabbath, 

5 

Bingham,  Rev.  Joseph. 

On  Sabbath  observance  in  the  Churcli 

of  England, 

131 

On  Sunday  Edict  of  Constantine, 

143 

On  the  FericB  of  pagan  Rome, 

160 

"Blue  Laws," 

390 

Bonham. 

Repels  the   charge    of    sinfulness    for 

working    on    Sunday,    becomes    the 

founder  of  the  third  Seventh-day  Bap- 

tist Church  in  America, 

398 

Boston,  Mais. 

Sunday    laws   enacted    at,    in    1654 

350 

A.  D., 

In  1658  A.  D., 

351 

In  1665  A.  D., 

353 

In  1667  and  1668  A.  D. , 

353 

In  1663  and  1677  A.  D. , 

355 

In  1679  A.  D., 

356 

Disregard  for  in  1879  A.  D. . 

418-429 

In  1884  A.  D., 

472 

In  1885  A.  D., 

448 

GENERAL   INDEX. 


547 


Bohemian  Sabbath-keepers. 

213, 

320 

Progenitors    of 

English    Seventh-day 

Baptists, 

318 

Bownde,  Nicholas. 

Author    of    the 

' '  Puritan     Sabbath  " 

theory, 

296-303 

Theory  unknown  until  1595  A.  D . , 

296 

Braintree,  England. 

Seventh-day  Baptist  Church  at, 
Br  ere  wood,  Rev.  Edward. 

Testimony  concerning  the  observance 


340 


of  the  Sabbath  in  the  early  church, 

130 

Brewers'  Association. 

511 

Annual  Congress  of,  on   Sunday  laws, 

514-17 

Brewers'    Gazette,    concerning     Sunday 

laws. 

512-14 

Brooks. 

"  Lives  of  Puritans,"  quoted, 

327 

Bryant,  Stephen. 

Arrested  for  violating  Sunday, 

389 

Bryennios. 

On  the  "  Teaching  of  the  Apostles," 

64-67 

Buchanan,  Ret.  Claudius. 

Statements  concerning  the  Sabbath  in 

Armenia, 

231 

Text  of  his  book  tampered  with, 

232 

Testimony    concerning    Syrian    Chris- 

tians. 

237 

Bullinger. 

Exposition  of  Rev.  1  :  10, 

265- 

548  GENERAL    INDEX. 

Bunsen. 

On  Ignatian  Epistles,  48 

Burdick,  Rev.  Henry. 

Pastor  of  the  first  Seventh-day  Baptist 
Church  in  America.  393 

Bureau  of  Statistics,  Mass. 

Important  facts  concerning  Sunday  la- 
bor in  1885  A..  D.,  .448 
Byiliinian  Christians. 

And  the  "  Stated  day,"  50 

c 

Calamy,  Edward. 
Statements    concerning  the    arrest    of 
Bampfield,  Seventh -day  Baptist,  333 

Calvin,  John. 
His  views  concerning 
Exegesis  of  Deut  , 
Exegesis  of  1  Cor.  1 

7, 
He  did  not  teach  the 
Canons  of  the  Apostles. 
Recognize  both  the 
Lord's-day,  180 

Carlow,  Rev.  Qeo. 
An  English  Seventh-day  Baptist  author 

of  1724  A.  D.,  "  336 

His  writings  republished  in  the  United 
States  in  1802  and  in  1847  A.  D. ,  337 

Ca/i'thage,  Synod  of. 
Concerning  Sunday  and  fast  days,  169 


the  Sabbath, 

258— 

261 

:    16  and  Acts  20  : 

263 

'Puritan  theory," 

263,4 

Sabbath  and  the 

GENEKAL    INDEX.  549 

Gatholic  Church,  Bom  an. 
Creed  concerning  Sunday,  405 

Cavaliers  of  Va. 
Enacted  the  first  Sunday  Law  in  Amer- 
ica ,  2^^ 
Gave,  William,  D.  D. 
Testimony  concerning  the  Sabbatli  in 
the  early  church,                           '  133 
Cawdrey,  Daniel. 
"Writer  in  defense  of  the  Puritan  Sun- 
day theory  in  1652  A.  D.,  338 
Chalons,  Council  of. 

Edict  concerning  Sunday,  19B 

Chambers  Cyclopedia. 

Concerning  Bohemian  Sabbath-keepers,  320 

Ch/xmberlain,   Peter. 
Prominent    Seventh-(hiy     Baptist    and 

Royal  Physician,  of  London,  395 

Chester,  Mrs. 

Imprisoned  for  keeping  the  Sabbath,  321 

Chersey,  England. 

Seventh-day  Baptist  Church  at,  340 

Chicago. 

Sunday  observance  in,  438 

China. 

Sabbath  in,  as  early  as  the  seventh  cent- 
ury, 
CJM-ist. 
And  the  Sabbath,  6 

Was  accustomed  to  preach  on  the  Sab 
bath.  10 


240- 


550  GENERAL   INDEX. 


Performed  works  of  mercy  on  the  Sab- 

bath, 

11 

Corrected  abuses  concerning   the  Sab- 

bath, 

14 

Confirmed  the  Sabbath, 

15 

"  Christian  Sabbath." 

This  term  not  used  by  Origen, 

100 

Christians. 

First  Assemblies  of.  on  Sunday, 

71 

Christians  of  St.  TJuyinas. 

Kept  the  Sabbath, 

237 

Ghrysostom. 

Teaches  No-sabbathism, 

154 

Recognizes  the  observance  of  the  Sab- 

bath late  in  the  fourth  century, 

183 

Church  Councils. 

Decrees  concerning  Sunday, 

167 

"  Clear  View  Wanted.'' 

Concerning  Sunday, 

458-463 

Clement  of  Alexandria. 

Notions  concerning  the   ' '  eightli  day," 

98 

Views  concerning  the  Sabbath, 

96 

Clement  of  Borne. 

Does  not  refer  to  Sunday, 

34 

Clothaire. 

King  of  France,  his  Sunday  edict, 

187 

Coleman,  Rev.  Lyman. 

Concerning  the  Sabbath  among  the  Ar- 

menians, 

229 

Among  the  Nestorians, 

283 

Concerning  Barnabas, 

39 

GENERAL   INDEX.  551 

Concerning  Ignatius,  47 

Concerning  the  observance  of  Wednes- 
day and  Friday,  112 
Concerning  the  observance  of  the  Sab- 
bath and  the  Sunday,  139 

Colony  of  Conn. 
First  Sunday  law,  1650-53  A.  D.,  367 

General  law  of  1668  A.  D.,  368 

Amended  in  1669  A.  D. ,  36(> 

Enforcement  of  in  1684  A.  D.,  370 

Additional  laws,  1715,  1721  A.  D.,  371 

Common  Law. 
New  England  Colonial ,  founded  on  the 
Jewish  law,  342 

Committee,  New  York  Sabbath. 
Organizedl857  A.  D.,  466 

Objects  and  policy,  478 — 

Documents  of,  quoted,  475 — 

Compromise. 
None  possible  between  the  Sabbath  and 
No-sabbathism,  524— 

Congress,  Brewers'. 
Opposed  to  Sunday  laws,  514— 

Constantine  the  Great. 
Character  in  general,  138 — 

Drawn    toward    Christianity,   through 

policy,  138 

Adopted  Christianity  as  a  superstition,  139 

An  especial  patron  of  the  sun-god,  141 

Was  a  selfish  murderer,  140 

His  Sunday  edict,  a  heathen  document,     141-143 


552  GENERAL    IKDEX 

It  mentious  the  day  only  as  "  The  Ven- 
erable day  of  the  Sun,"  141 

Such  Legislation  common  under  former 

emperors,  144-146 

Conventions,  Sabbath,  in  the  Vm'ted  States. 

In  New  York,  1828  A.  D.,  464 

At  Cincinnati,  in  1840  A.  D.,  464 

At  Rochester  in  1842  A.  D.,  464 

At    Baltimore,    Harrisburg  (Va.)    and 

Saratoga  Springs,  in  1844  A.  D.,  465 

At  Frankfort,  Ky.,  in  1846  A.  D.,  465 

<  Anti)  at  Boston  in  1848  A.  D. .  465 

National,  at  Saratoga   Springs,  in  1863 

A.  D.,  466 

At   Boston   and  Springfield,  Mass.,  in 

1879  A.  D.,  ^  467,468 

Co>  stitutions  of  the  Apostles,  173 

Continental  Reformers. 

Were  in  general  No-sabbathisis,  250 — 

Gottrell. 

Arrested  under   Sunday  laws  of  Md.,  485 

Cox,  Robert. 
Concerning  the  origin  of  the  Seventh - 

day  Baptists,  213 

Doubts   the   authenticity    of    Origen's 

Twenty-third  Homily  on  Numbers,  99 

Concerning  Sunday  at  the  close  of  the 

third    century    and    the    unfounded 

claims  made  bv  Eusebius,  150,  151 


GE.S-ERAL    li^DEX.  553 

Speaks  highly  of  Brabourne,  324 

Considers  Cornthwaite  the  ablest  writer 
among  English  Seventh-day  Baptists,  339 

Granrtur,  Bishop. 

Views  on  the  Sabbath,  276 

Creeds  of  Churches. 

Sunday  in,  405 

Cripplegate  Church. 

Seventh-day  Baptist,  London,  Eng.,  340 

Cyprian. 
Pupil  of  Tertullian,  103 

Notions  concerning  circumcision  and  the 

"eighth  day,"  103,104 

Cyril. 
Teaches  No-sabbathism,  153 

D 

Dark  Ages. 

Sunday  during,  185— 
Observance  of  Sunday  deeply  supersti- 
tious, 1^6 
In  France,  187,  192 
In  England,  187,  198 
In  Burgundy,  189,  193 
Sunday  disregarded  by  many  kings  and 

prominent  men,  190 

Many  other    festivals  associated  with 

Sunday,  191 

Orders  or  Pope  Leo  IV. ,  195 

Under  the  Saxon  Heptarchy,  196 


554  GENERAL    Il^DEX. 

Blasphemous  miracles  claimed  against 

those  who  desecrated  Sunday,  197-302 

The  Sabbath  during,  205— 

Kept  by  the  Waldenses,  during,  215— 

See  S05-219 

David,  Rev.  Ebenezer. 

Seventh-day  Baptist  chaplain  in   the 
Revolutionary  War,  394 

David,  Rev.  Enoch. 
Early  Seventh-day  Baptist  preacher  in 
Pa.,  398 

''Decay   of    Sunday    observance    amonq 

Christians,"  453 — 

Dellon. 

The  Inquisition  and  the  Sabbath,  238 — 

De  Vignaux. 

On  the  character  of  the  Waldenses,  215 

Dialogue  with  Trypho. 
The  fountain  of  Patristic  No-sabbath- 
ism,  74 
Teaches  the  utter  abolition  of  the  Sab- 
bath, under  the  gospel,  73 
Domville,  Sir  William. 
Thinks  Barnabas'  epistle  a  forgery,  38 
Shows  Dominicum  Servasti  a  falsehood,      54-57 
Shows  that  Ignatius  to  the  Magnesians 
is  interpolated  to  make  it  refer  to 
Sunday,  45 
Shows  that  Irenseus  does  not  contain 
the  passage  concerning  Sunday,  usu- 
ally attributed  to  him,  81 


GEKBRAL   INDEX.  555 

Dunham,  Bee.  Edmund. 
First  pastor  of  third  Seventh-day  Bap- 
tist Church  in  America,  899 
B  wight,  Timothy,  D.  D. 

Misquotes  Irenaeua,  81 

Bionysiua. 

Does  not  call  Sunday  the  Sabbath,   nor 
say,  '•  We  have  kept  it  holy,"  78,  79 

Bocuments. 

Of    New    York    Sabbath    Committee, 

quoted,  475 — 

Ancient  Syrian,  recognize  both  Sabbatli 

and  Sunday,  181 

Bodge,  Willia/m,  E. 

Concerning    Sunday    railroading    and 

steam-boating,  434 

Concerning  Sunday  in  great  cities,  437 

Christians  must  not  hold  stock  in  Sun- 
day-breaking corporations,  439 
Bominicum  Servasti. 
Term  never  used  in  connection  with 

Martyrdom,  51 — 

Was  coined  by  Bishop  Andrews  in  1618 
A.  D.,         '  57 

Bominicum. 

Defined  by  Baronius,  59 

E 

Eastern  Church. 
The  "  Mother  Church  "  of  Christianity,  320 

Has  always  kept  the  Sabbath,  226 


550  GENERAL    IKDEX. 

Eccltsiastical  Canons. 

Of  the  Apostles,  180 

Eccol  impadius. 

Concerniug  the  Waldenses,  215 

Edward  VI. 

Sunday  during  the  reign  of,  273 

Edgar. 

Sunday  law  of,  19^ 

Edwards,  Pnsident. 

Concerning  the  Waldenses,  209 

Speaks  in  high  praise  of  them,  210 

Edwards,  Jusnn,  D.  J). 

Misquotes  Irenieus,  81- 

Eghert. 

Sunday  laws  of,  194 

Elagabalus,  Emperor. 

Exalted  Sunday  worship  in  Rome,  110 

Was  himself  a  priest  of  the  sun.  116 

Elvira,  Synod  of. 

Decree  concerning  Sunday,  168 

Elizabeth,  Quetn. 

Sunday  observance  under  her  reign,  280- 

Encyclopedia  of  Biblical  Literature. 

Shows  how  "  Ignatius  to  the  Magne- 
sians,"  is  interpolated,  to  make  it  re- 
fer to  Sunday,  42-44 

Britanica,  on  Church  Councils,  167 

Religious  Knoicledge,  on  Epistle  of  Bar- 
nabas, 89 
Enforcement. 

Of  Sunday  laws  in  New  England,  388- 


GENERAL    INDEX.  557 

England,  Church  of. 

Doctrines  concerning  Sunday.  289 

English  Beformation. 
Sunday  in,  273 

Sabbath  question  became  prominent  in,  273 

Teachings  of  representative  men,  Tyn- 
dale,  Fryth,  Cranraer,  etc..  274-283 

Ephesus. 

Paul  observed  the  Sabbath  at,  27 

Episcopal  Church,  Protestant. 

Creed  of,  concerning  Sunday,  408 

Epistles  of  li.  T. 

They  mention  the  first  day  of  the  week 
but  once,  30' 

Epistle  of  Barnabas. 

Is  a  forgery,  ^ 

Erasmus. 

Testimony  concerning  Bohemian  Sab- 
bath-keepers, 213 
Essays,  Sabbath. 

Quoted,  464,  466,  467-471 

Ethelred 

Sunday  Laws  of,  196 

Ethiopian  Christians. 

Observed  the  Sabbath,  226 

Europe. 

Sabbath-keepers  in,  317— 

Eusebiu^. 

Unwarrantable  claims  in  his  comments 
on  the  ninety-second  Psalm  150 

(37) 


558  GENERAL     INDEX. 

Eustace,  Abbott. 
His  forged  decretals  concerning  Sun- 
day, 197- 

F 

Famous  Falselwod. 

' '  Dominicum  Servasti  f  "  51 

Felt. 

Ecclesiastical  History  of  New  England, 
quoted,  896 

• '  First  Day  of  the  Week:' 

Only  one  mentioned  in  the  Gospels,  16 

Mentioned  but  once,  in  the  Book  of  Acts. 

Mentioned  but  once  in  all  the  Epis- 
tles, 30 
Fisher,  Edward. 

Seventh-day  Baptist  author  of  (about) 
1650  A   D.,  329 

Fortes  me,  E.  F.  K. 

Says  the  Armenians  keep  the  Sabbath,  236 

Forgery. 

Epistle  of  Barnabas  is  a,  86 

Fourth  Century. 

Marked  epoch  in  the  Sabbath  question,  119- 

France. 

Protestant  Reformation  and  Sunday  in,  269 

Friday. 

Made  a  fast  and  worship  day,  108 

Fuller,  Church  History. 

Quoted,  32T 


GENERAL   INDEX.  559 

G 

Oeddes,  \fichaeL 
Testimony  concerniug  the  Sabbath,  in 
the  Abyssinian  church,  326 

Ger.tile  Christians. 

The  Sabbath  among,  120 

German  Reformation. 

Sunday  in,  249 — 

Germans,  The. 

And  Sunday  saloons,  489 

Germany. 

Its  contribution  to  Sunday  question,  509 

Gibbon,  Edward. 
Testimony  concerning  the  Sabbath  in 
Abyssinia,  225 

Qiesler,  J.  G.  I. 
Concerning  Nestorians  in  China,  242 

Concerning  Sabbath  among  early  Chris- 
tians, 135 
Gilfillan,  James. 
Concerning  the  Sabbathism  of  the  Eng- 
lish church,  291 
Makes  unfounded    claims    concerning 

' '  Dominic  um  Ser  vasti, "  51 

Perverts  plain  facts  concerning  this  ex- 
pression, 58 
Gobat,  Rev.  Samuel. 
Testimony  concerning  the  Sabbath  in 
the  Abyssinian  church,                                 322 


560  GENERAL  INDEX. 

Shows  how  the  Abyssinians  fought  for 
the  privilege  of  observing  it  in  the 
sixteenth  century,  223,  224 

Gospels,  TJie. 
History  of  the  Sabbath  in,  5— 

Of  John,  written  after  the  Revelation.  32 

Grant,  Dr. 
Testimony     concerning    the    Sabbath 

among  the  Nestorian  Christians.  233 

The  text  of  his  history  corrupted,  234 

Grovenor,  Prof.  E.  A. 
Reports  interview  with  Bryennios  con- 
cerning the  "  Teaching  of  the  Apos- 
tles," 64 
Gully,  W.  S. 

Testifies  to  high  character  of  the  Val- 
denses,  218 

Gurney,  Rev.  J.  J. 
Perverts  the  facts,  concerning  "  Bomin- 
cum  Servasti."  52 


Uallam,  Henry. 
Concerning  Sunday  in  the  English  Re- 
formation, 291 
Hackett,  Prof. 

Believes  Barnabas'  epistle  a  forgery,  38 

Hose,  Br.  Charles. 
Testifies  to  the  observance  of  the  Sab- 
bath in  the  early  church,  134 


561 

321 
48 

167 


GENERAL     INDEX. 

Hefden. 

Imprisoned  for  Sabbath-keeping, 
Hefele,  Right  Reo.  Charles  Joseph. 

On  the  Ignt.tian  Epistles, 

General  character  of  the  church  coun- 

cils 

Concerning  Council  of  Sardica.  and  at- 
tendance on  Sund>iy  service,  169 

Concerning  decree  of  Synod  of  Carth- 
affe  and  church  attendance  on  "  Fes- 

Concerning  decree  of  Council  of  rsice 
on  standing  in  prayer  on  Sundays, 
and  festival  of  Pentecost,  1^0 

Concerning  decree  of  Synod  of  Laodo- 
cea,  on  "  Judaizing,"  and  on  reading 
the  Gospels  on  the  Sabbath,  170 

Concerning  communion,  etc..  on  Sab 

bath  and  Sunday  only,  during  Lent, 

because  "  on  these  days  there  was  full 

and  solemn  service,  ^  *  ^ 

Hermas.  .3- 

Does  not  mention  Sunday,  ^^ 

Heylyn,  Peter. 

On  the  observance  of  Wednesday  and 

Friday,  ,  Jq^ 

On  the  Sabbath  in  the  early  church,  i^^ 

On  early  Sunday  laws.  1^1" 

Says  Sunday  was  not  neld  as  a  Sabbath 

in  the  early  church,  ^^^ 

Sunday  not  a  Sabbath  in  the  Lutheran 

Reformation,  '^^^ 


662  GENERAL   INDEX. 

Concerning    King    James    "Book    of 

Sports,"  286  . 

Concerning  Beza's  views  on  Sunday,  267 — 
Concerning  Sunday  at  the  close  of  the 

sixth  century,  189 — 
Concerning  the  No-sabbathism  of  Zwin- 

gli,  257 
Concerning  Thraske  and  the  Seventh- 
day  Baptists,  323 
Hessey,  James  Augustus,  D.  C.  L. 
Concerning  early   Sunday  laws,              163,  164 
Sunday  observance  not  based  on  fourth 

commandment,  165 
Shows  that  "Christian  Sabbath,"  was 

never  used  by  Origen,  100 
Concerning  term   '*  Lord's-day,"  in  the 

early  church,  106 
Concerning  No-sabbathism  in  England,  122 — 
Rejects  the  interpolation  of   "  Lord's- 
day,"  in  Ignatius  to  the  Magnesians,  45 
Concerning  Scotch  Sabbatarianism,  315 
"  Apostolic   Constitutions,"   belong   to 

fourth  or  fifth  century,  174 
Superstitious    observance    of    Sunday 

during  the  Dark  Ages,  186 

Sabbath  kept  by  the  Nestorians,  283 

Sunday  in  the  German  Reformation,  260 

Zwingli  a  No-sabbathist,  257 — 
No-sabbath  theories  of  the  Continental 

Reformers,  269 


16— 

28— 


GENERAL     INDEX.  563 

Sunday  under  Queen  Elizabeth's  reign,  288 

Church  of  England  and  Sunday,  282 

Hilgenfeld. 

On  "Teaching  of  the  Apostles,"  6?J 

On  Ignatian  Epistles,  47 

Hiscox,  Rev.  William. 
First    Seventh-day    Baptist    pastor    in 

America,  ^^^ 

History. 
Is  an  organic  development  1 

Of  "first  day  the  week,"  in  the  Gos- 
pels, 
In  Book  of  Acts, 
In  the  Epistles,  30 

Homily. 
Origen's  twenty-third  on  Numbers,  99 

Homilies. 
Of  Chrysostom  on  the  Sabbath,  183 

Hoveden,  Roger  de. 
On  forged  Sunday  decretals,  197- 

Hubbard. 

Correspondent  of  Roger  Williams  con- 
cerning the  Sabbath,  895 
Hunt,  Edward. 

Arrested  for  shooting  at  deer  on  Sun- 

day,  389 

Hutchinson. 

Concerning  '  death  penalty,"  for  dese- 
cration of  Sunday  in  Mass. ,  348 


564  GENERAL   INDEX. 

I 

' '  Ignatitis  to  Ihs  Magnesians. " 
A  forgery,  41 — 

Interpolated  to  make  it  refer  to  Sun- 
day, 42— 

Independent,  The. 

Quoted  on  Sunday  labor  in  Mass. ,  448 

"  Injunctions"  of  Queen  Elizabeth. 
Concerning  Sunday.  280 

Insurrection,  Ti-Ping 
And  the  Sabbath,  244 

IrencBus. 

He  is  often  misquoted,  81 — 

He  does  not  refer  to  Sunday,  81 

His  authentic  words  concerning  the  Sab- 
bath. 85 

J 

Jame»  1. 

"  Book  of  Sports,"  and  Sunday,  285— 

Jorttn,  Gh.  Historian. 

Concerning  the  Waldenses,  209 

Jtistin  Martyr. 

The  first  writer  who  mentions  assem- 
blies of  Christians  on  Sunday,  71 — 

Also  the  first  to  teach  No-sabbathism,  72 — 

Notions  concerning  circumcision  and 

Sunday,  74 

K 
Killen,  Rev.  Doctor. 

On  Ignatian  Epistles,  47 


GENERAL   INDEX.  565 

Considers  Barnabas  a  forgery,  38 

Kitto,  Encyclopedia  Biblical  Literature. 

Considers  Barnabas  a  forgery.  38 

Kaye,  Bishop. 
Concerning  Sunday  in  time  of  Tertul 

lian.  92 

Concerning    Clement    of  Alexandria's 

views  on  Sunday,  ^ 

On  the  date  of  Marcion.  124 

L 
Laves,  Sunday. 
Of  the  Colony  of  Rhode  Island,  376— 

Were  executed  in  the  Colonies.  388— 

Status  of,  in  New  England  in  1879  A. 
D., 
Labor  Bureau. 

Statistics  of  Sunday  labor  in  Massachu- 
setts in  1885  A.  D  .  -^8- 
Legtslation,  Sunday. 

General  effect  of  to  de  Sabbat  i2e.  536 

"  Lord's-day." 
Evidence  that  the  term  in  Rev.  1 :    10 

does  not  apply  to  Sunday,  31 

Distinct  from  the  Sabbath,  1^^ 

Observance  of,  in  time  of  Queen  Eliza- 
beth, 
Luther,  Martin. 

His  "  Larger  Catechism  "  and  Sunday,  250 

He  taught  No-sabbathism,  352 

Considered  Christians  free  from  the  ten 

commandments,  '"^53 


440 


283 


566  GENERAL    INDEX. 

M 

Macon,  Council  of. 

Decree  concerning  Sunday,  189 

Magneiians. 

Ignatian  Epistle  to,  a  forgery,  43 — 

Mallalieu,  W.  F. ,  D.  D. 

Concerning  desecration  of" Sunday   in 
Massachusetts,  429 

Martyrs,  Acts  of. 

Do  not  contain  the  question,   Jhjmini- 
cum  Servasti,  54 — 

'  •  Maryland  Sabbath  Association, ' '  488 

On  Sunday  observance  in  Baltimore,  484 — 

On  Sunday  legislation  in  Maryland,        486,  487 
Massachusetts  Bay  Colony. 

Sunday  in,  347 — 

Massachusetts. 

State  Sunday  law  of  1782  A.  D.,  361— 

Bureau  of  Statistics,  on  Sunday  La- 
bor in  1885  A.  D.,  '  448 
Meliio  of  Sardis. 

Reputed*  book  on  the  "  Lord's-day  "  an 
imperfect  and  uncertain  title,  79 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

Creed  of,  concerning  Sunday,  413 — 

Millman,  Dean. 

Pagan  character  of  Constantino's  Sun- 
day edict,  143,  144 
Mill  Yard  Church. 

Seventh-day  Baptist,  London,  Eng.,  340 


GENERAL   INDEX.  Se*? 


38 


192- 


MUner,  Ret.  Isaac. 
Deems  Barnabas'  Epistle  not  genuine. 

Milwaukee. 
Sunday  laws  disregarded  in,  494 

Missouri. 
Legislation  concerning  Sunday,  493 

Merer. 
Concerning  Sunday  in  the  sixth  cen- 
tury, 

In  Burgundy  in  the  seventh  century,  193 

In  England  in  the  eighth  century,  194 

Superstitious  punishment  for  breaking 

Sunday,  ^^^ 

Sunday  under  Alfred  the  Great,  196 

Mosheim,  John  Lawrence,  D.  D. 

Rejects  Epistle  of  Barnabas,  37 

Testifies  to  Sabbath  observance  by  the 

Waldenses,  ^l*^ 

Mossie,  J.  W. 
Concerning  Armenian  Christians,  230 

Mumford,  Stephen. 

First  Seventh-day  Baptist  in  America, 

1664  A.  D.,  392 

N 

Nation,  Eng. 

Seventh-day  Baptist  Church  at,  340 

N.ale,  History  Ear^tern  Church. 

On  the  place  of  the  Sabbath  in  the  Ar- 
menian Calendar,  235 


5f)8  GENERAL     INDEX. 

Neale,  Edward  V. 
Shows  the  origin  of  Sunday  Legislation 
to  be  from  pagan  Rome,  144 — 

JVeale,  Rev.  Daniel. 

Concerning  English  Reformation  under 

Elizabeth,  278 

On  the  Lord's  day  at  the  same  period.  288 

Concerning  the  "  Book  of  Sports,"  287 

Influence  of  the  Civil  War  of  the  Eng 
lish  Reformation  on  morals  and  rel- 
igion, 305 
Concerning   the    "  Lord's-day '"    under 
the  Cromwellian  rule.                                    308 — 


Ne  inder. 

Biography  of  Tertullian. 

87 

Concerning  the  observance  of  W( 

I'dne*- 

day  and  Friday . 

112 

Concerning  the  Sabbath    in    the 

carly 

church, 

135 

Nestorian  Christians. 

They  keep  the  Sabbath, 

233— 

Were  in  China  at  an  early  date, 

342— 

New  Haven  Colony. 

Sunday  in, 

365 

Codeof  1656  A.  D.. 

366 

Niw  Netherlands  Colony. 

First  Sunday  law  in  1647  A.  D. . 

380 

Additional  laws  in  1673  A.  D. , 

380 

First   law   under   English    occupancy. 

1695  A.  D.. 

381 

First    law  under  State  government  of 

OKNERAL    IN^DEX. 

509 

New  York  in  1778  A.  D., 

383 

Newport,  R.  I. 

Sunday  Laws  enacted  at,  in  1673, 

376 

In  1679  A.  D., 

378 

Niebhur. 

On  unchristian  deeds  of  Constantine. 

148 

Noble,  Bev.  Abel. 

Pastor  of  the  second  Seventh-day  Bap- 

tist Church  in  America, 

397 

No-sabbathism. 

Contemporaneous  with  the  introduction 

of  Sunday, 

70— 

Asserted  by  Justin  Martyr. 

72— 

Development  of, 

78-- 

Strongly  asserted  by  Tertulb'an, 
0 
Ockford,  James. 

87— 

Seventh-day  Baptist  author  of  1642  A. 

D., 

328 

Answered  by  Cawdrey  and  Palmer,  by 

order  of  the  government, 

329 

Origen. 

Bom  185  A.  D.,  died  253  A.  D., 

99 

Does  not  use  the  term,  "  Christian  Sab- 

bath," 

100 

Teaches  extreme  No-sabbathism, 

103 

Origin. 

Of  "Puritan  Sunday"  in  1695  A.  D., 

296— 

Of  Civil  legislation  concerning  Sunday, 

321  A.  D., 

188 

/)70  GENERAL   INDEX. 

Of   Seventh-day  Baptists  in  America. 

1671  A.  D..  392 

Of  Seventh-day  Adventists,  since  1844 
A.  D. ,  400 

Outlook,  and  Sabbath  Quarterly. 
Quoted,  63,  69 

Reviewed  by  Dr.  Bacon,  502,  508 

Wide- spread  influence  of,  503 


Pagitt,  Ephraim. 

Herisiography,  quoted,  54,  322 

Papias. 
Makes  no  reference  to  Sunday,  36 

Parliament,  CromwelUan, 
And  the  observance  of  Sunday,  304,  306,  308,  310 

Paul  the  AjMsile. 
Observed  the  Sabbath  at  Sal  amis,  21 

At  Antioch,  w^ith  both  Jews  and  Greeks,  33 

Discusses  the  resurrection  of   Christ, 

but  no  word  concerning  Sunday,  24,  26 

Observed  the  Sabbath  for  a  long  time 

at  Iconium,  24 

Also  at  Philippi  and  Thessalonica,  25 

At  Corinth,  continually,  26 

At  Ephesus  for  two  years,  27 

Pennsylvania. 
First  Sunday  lawg,  384 

Little  changed  since  1794  A.  D.,  385 

Make  no  exceptions  in  favor  of  Sabbath- 
keepers,  386 


GENERAL   INDEX.  5T1 

Perrin. 

Says  the  Vaudois  kept  the  Sabbath.  214 

Photius. 

Enumerates  the  festivals  of  the  chinch 
in  858  A.  D..  191 

Picards. 

Kept  the  Sabbath  iu  Bohemia,  318 

Pliny's  letter  to  Trajan,  49 

' '  Stated  day  "  mentioned,  probably  the 
Sabbath,  51 

Plymouth  Becords. 

Quoted,  843-346 

Polycarp,Eputle  of. 

Silent  concerning  Sunday,  86 

Purchase. 

Testimony    concerning    tlie     Sabbath 
amoDg  the  Waldenses,  316 

*'  Puritan  Sunday." 

Unknown  until  close  of  sixteenth   cen- 
tury—1595  A.  D.,  396 

Only  two  passages  of  Scripture  rjuoted 
by  Bownde,  in  support  of  it,  301 

Development  of,  in  America ,  341 

Q 

Quakers. 
Their  views  concerning  Sunday,  314 

Kethian,  many  embraced  the  Sabbath,  397 

Quotations. 
Garbled,  41,  84,  333 


67^  GENERAL   INJ3EX. 

R 

Railroadis. 

Influence    of.     in     agitating     Sunday 

question,  517 

Sunday  work  on,  481 

Statistics  concerning,  482 
Jieasons. 

First  given  for  assembling  on  Sunday,  71 
Jtel  gious  Knowledge,  Cyclopedia  of . 

Rejects  the  Epistle  of  Barnabas,  39 
Jieport  Massachusetts  Bureau  of  Statistics. 

On  Sunday  Labor,  448 
"Restoration,  The." 

Su)iday  observance  in  England  during,  311 — 
Revolution,  The  Ti-Ping. 

Inaugurated  the  observance  of  the  Sab- 
bath in  China,  244 — 
RJiode  Island. 

Colonial  Sunday  laws  of,  376 — 
RitscJiel. 

Opinion  concerning  Ignatian  Epistles,  48 
Roman  Catholicism. 

Creed  concerning  Sunday,  405— 
Roman  HeatJien  Cult. 

Formed  the  bjisis  of  Sunday  legislaton,  138 — 

s 

8abbath  Question. 

Importance  of,  % 

Sabbath,  The. 

History  of,  in  the  Gospels,  in  Matt.  12  : 


GENERA.L    INDEX. 


573 


1-13,  in  Mark  2  :  23-28,    in  Luke  6 
1-11,    in  Mark  1  :  21-26,    in  Luke  4 
30-35,  in  Luke  4  :  14-22,   in  Mark  6 
2,  in  Luke  13  :  10-17,   in  John  5  :  5- 
18,  and  7  :  19-24,  and  9  :  1-16, 

In  the  Book  of  Acts  13  :  5,  14-48,  and 
14  :  1-3,  and  16  :  12-15,  and  17  :  1-4, 
16-19,  and  18  :  4,  11,  18-21,  and  19  : 
8-10, 

Justin  Martyr's  theory  concerning. 

Its  relation  to  circumcision,  Tertullian's 
theory. 

Meaningless  fancies  concerning. 

Retained  a  strong  hold  on  Gentile 
Christians, 

Remained  in  the  church  until  driven 
out  by  heathen  influence,  . 

Not  to  keep  it  deemed  a  heresy, 

Christ  did  not  abolish  it. 

Observed  for  several  centuries,  Cole- 
man's testimony. 

Cave's  testimony. 

Testimony  of  Hase, 

Testimony  of  Schaff , 

Testimony  of  Neander, 

Testimony  of  Giesler, 

Observed  until  fourth  and  fifth  cent- 
uries. 

Unsupported  statements  of  Eusebius 
concerning. 

Views  of  Cyril,  Chrysostom,  and  Au- 
(38) 


5-15 


21-27 

72 


96- 
120 

123 
123 

124 

129 
13« 
134 
184 
135 
135 

136 

150 


122, 


574  GEIs-ERAL   INDEX. 


gustine, 

153-159 

Its  observance  after  the  time  of   Con- 

stantine, 

173-184 

Its  recognition  in  the  Apostolic  Consti- 

tutions, 

175-184 

Prayer  to  be  used  upon, 

178 

Recognized  in  the  Canons  of  tlie  Apos- 

tles, 

180 

In  Syrian  documents. 

181,  182 

Status  in  the  West  during   the  Dark 

Ages. 

205-219 

In  the  Eastern  church, 

2e0-t48 

In  Abyssinia,  testimony  of  Gobat, 

222-225 

Of  Geddes, 

226 

Of  Dean  Stanley, 

227 

In  Armenia,  Coleman's  testimony. 

229 

Buchanan's  testimony. 

231 

Among  the  Xestorians,   testimony   of 

Coleman,  Grant,  Perkins,  Neale  and 

Fortescue, 

238-236 

Among  the  Christians  of  St.  Thomas, 

237-240 

In  ancient  China,  testimony  from  Book 

of  Changes, 

240 

From  Nestorian  inscriptions. 

242 

In  Ti-Ping  Rebellion, 

244-248 

In  Europe  since  the  Reformation,  testi- 

mony of  Cox, 

318, 324 

Of  Bishop  White, 

319 

Of  Chambers'  Cyclopedia, 

320 

Of  Paggitt, 

321 

OffFuller  and  llrooks. 

337 

GENERAL   IXDEX. 


070 


Writers  in  defense  of 

Represented  by  Seventh-day  Baptists  in 
England, 

In  America, 

Christianity  stands  or  falls  with  ii. 

"  Association  of  Philadelphia," 

Verdict  of  history  concerning-. 

Men  must  have. 

Cannot  exist  without  divine  authority, 

Cannot  compromise    with  No-sabbath- 
ism, 

Its  appeal  to  the  American  church. 
Salem,  F.  W. 

Publisher  of  "  History  of  Beer,"  etc., 

Claims  beer  as  a  "temperance  drink," 

Opposes  Sunday  laws. 

Quotes  German  Reformers  against  Sun- 
day, 

Quotes  English  Sunday  laws, 

Reviews  Sundav  agitation  in  N(  wark, 
N.  J.. 

Gives  statistics  concerning  beer,  etc., 
Schade,  Louis. 

Attorney  Brewers"  Association. 

Appeals  against  Sunday  laws, 

Claims  votes  enough  to  repeal  Sunday 
laws, 
Schaff,  Philip,  D.  B. 

Rejects  the  Epistle  of  Barnabas, 

Says  the  Sabbath  was  observed   in   the 
early  church. 


3»4-329 

339,  840 

892-404 

484 

494 

519- 

520-^22 

522-524 

524-526 
540 

506 

507 

50« 

508 
510 

510,  511 
51» 

515 
516 

517 

39 

184 


576  GENERAL   INDEX. 


Testifies  to  the  uucliristiau  character  of 

Constantine  the  Great, 

139 

fjocTu/ies. 

Testimony  concerning  the  Sabbath  in 

the  early  church, 

127 

Sozon  en. 

Testifies  to  Sabbath  observance  in  the 

early  church, 

128 

Stromaia 

Of  Clement  teach  No-sabbathism, 

97-99 

Sunday. 

First  mentioned  by  Justin  Martyr  about 

150  A.  D., 

71 

Its  supposed  relation  to  circumcision, 

74 

Not  observed  as  a  Sabbath, 

76 

A  day  of  indulgence  to  the  flesh, 

90 

Kneeling  prohibited,  because  an  expres- 

sion of  sorrow, 

91 

Never  confounded  with  the  Sabbath  by 

early  writers. 

106 

Observance  of,  and  the  doctrine  of  No- 

sabbathism  contemporaneous, 

119 

In  the  church  councils, 

167-171 

During  the  Dark  Ages, 

185-204 

Blasphemous  forgeries  concerning,  about 

1000  A.  D., 

197-202 

In  the  German  Reformation, 

249-256 

Luther's  opinions  concerning. 

250-253 

In  Augsburg  Confession, 

253-256 

In  the  Swiss  Reformation , 

257 

Opinions  of  Zwingli, 

257,  258 

GEKERAL  INDEX.  577 

Opinions  of  John  Calvin,  259-264 

Opinions  of  Bullinger,  265 

Opinions  of  Beza  and  Bucer,  266-268 

In  French  Reformation,  269 

In  the  English  Reformation,  273-294 

Opinions  of  Tyndale,  274 

Opinions  of  John  Fryth,  275 

Opinions  of  Bishop  Cranmer,  276-280 

' '  Injunctions  "  of  Queen  Elizabeth  con- 
cerning, 280-282 
Neale's  testimony  concerning  Puritan 

times.  283 

"  Book  of  Sports,"  by  King  James,  285 

In  the  "Savoy  Conference,"  1661  A. 

D.,  288,  289 

Doctrines  of  the   Church   of  England 

concerning,  290  293 

Development  of  the  Puritan  theory  in 

England,  "       295-316 

Announcement  of  the  theory  by  Nicho- 
las Bownde,  in  1595  A.  D.,  296-302 
Civil    legislation    concerning,   by    the 

Puritans,  *  302-310 

Under  Charles  the  Second,  311-314 

In  Scotland,  315,  316 

In  America,  Plymouth  Colony,  342-347 

In  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony,  347-361 

Early  State  Government  of  Mass..  361-365 

In  New  Haven  Colony,  365-367 

In  Colony  of  Connecticut,  367-376 

In  Colon v  of  Rhode  Island.  376-378 


578  GENEKAL   INDEX. 

In  Colony  of  New  Netherlands,  379-384 

In  Colony  of  Pennsylvania ,  384-386 

In  Colony  of  Virginia,  386-388 

In  Creed  of  Roman  Catholic  Church,  405-408 
In     Creed     of     Protestant    Episcopal 

Church,  408-410 
In  Westmister  Confession,  412,  413 
In  Methodist  Episcopal  Creed,  41 3 
In  Creed  of  Baptists,  414,  15 
Practical  observance  of,  in  United  States,  417- 
Testimony  of  Rev.  E.  S.  Atwood,  417-427 
Of  Rev.  Reuben  Thomas,  428 
Of  Rev.  W.  F.  Mallalieu,  429-434 
Of  Hon.  William  E.  Dodge,  434-440 
Of  Walter  Learned,  440-442 
Of  Julius  H.  Ward,  442-448 
Of  Mass.  Bureau  of  Statistics  of  1885,  448-453 
Decay  of  observance  among  Chris- 
tians, 453-457 
Better  understanding  of,  needed,  458-462 
Agitation    concerning,    by     "  Sabbath 

Conventions,"  403-472 

By  "  Sabbath  Committees,"  472- 

Railroading  on,  481 

State  of  the  question  in  Md.,  483-488 

In  Massachusetts,  489 

In  New  Jersey,  489 

In  Louisiana,  489,  490 

[n  Chicago,  490 

In  California,  490 

In  Ohio.  492 


CtE:n^eeal  ixdex.  579 

In  Missouri,  493 

In  Milwaukee,  494 
National  Reform  Movement  as  related 

to,       *  495, 496 
Sunday  Laica. 
Law  of  Constantine,  321  A  D.,  purel}' 

heathen  as  shown  by  the  law  itself,  141 
Testimony  of  Bingham,  143 
Of  Millman,  143 
Of  E.  V.  Neale,  145 
Subsequent  laws  were  like  heathen  laws 
concerning  other  holidays.  Bing- 
ham's testimony,  160 
Heylyn's  testimony,  161-163 
Hessey's  testimony,  163-166 
During  the  Dark  Ages,  by  Council  of 

Macon,  585  A.  D.,  186 

By  Clothiar,  King  of  France,  187 

Testimony  of  Hessey  and  Heylyn,  186-192 

Of  Clovis  in  507  A.  D.,  192 

Of  the  Council  of  Orleans  in  538  A.  D. ,  192— 
First  in  England,  under  Ina,  or  Ino,  in 

692  A.  D.,  193 

Under  Egbert,  747  A.  D.,  194 

Decrees  of  Synod  at  Rome,  853  A.  D.,  195 

Under  Alfred  the  Great  in  876  A.  D. ,  196 

Lessen  religious  regard  for  Sunday,  526 — 

Sun-worahip  in  Rome,  116-118 
T 


Teaching  of  tlie  Apostles. " 

But  fevf  facts  known  concerning  it, 


60 


580  GENEEAL   INDEX. 

Claims  neither  date  nor  author,  60 

Consists  of  two  distinct  parts,  an  earlier 

and  a  later.  61-64 

Testimony  of  the  Andover  Beview,  61 

Of  Hilgenfeld,  63 

Of  Bryennios,  64-67 

Temperance  Legislation. 
Complicates  the  matter  concerning  Sun- 
day laws,  587 
TertioUian. 
Biography  of,  87 
His    notions  concerning    circumcision 

and  the  Sabbath,  88 

He  calls  Sunday  a  day  "  of  indulgence 

to  the  flesh,"  90 

Forbids  kneeling  on  Sunday,  because 

the  day  is  joyous,  91 

Writings  filled  with  inconsistencies,  94 

Teaches  rank  No-sabbathism,  75 

Teaches  that  the  Sabbath  is  not  abolish- 
ed, 124 
Thraske,  John. 
An  early  English  Seventh-day  Baptist 
who  was  tried  by  the  ' '  Star  Chamber 
Court,"  in  16 18  A.  D.,  53— 
Thraske,  Mrs.  John. 

Died  in  prison  for  Sabbath-keeping,  322 

TiPing  Beballion. 
Introduced  the  observance  of  the  Sab- 
bath in  China,  244-247 


GENERAL   IXDEX.  581 

I'wisse,  William,  I).  D. 


Teetimony    concerning     "  D&minicnm 

Servasti," 

53 

Concerning  Sabbath  in  early  church, 

130 

Tt/ndale. 

His  opinions  concerning  the  Sabbath, 

274 

u 

Wdhorn,  Dr.  Gerhard. 

On  Ignatian  Epistles,  48 

Concerning  the  intlux  of  "  pagan  Chris- 
tians," into  the  church  at  opening  of 
the  second  century,  114,  llo 

On   the   worship   of   Mithras,    Persian 

sun-god,  at  Rome,  116 

On  the  character  of  Constautiue  the 
Great,  141 

Ctter,  llev.  (ieo.  B. 

Seventh-day  Baptist  historian  of  1858 
A.  D.,  340 

w 

Waddiwjton,  Bean. 
Testifies  to  the  excellent  character  of 
the  Waldenses,  308 

\Valdense>^. 
Their  history  perverted  by  the  Papal 

Church,  207 

Existed  as  early  as  the  fourth  century,     208-809 

Very  numerous  in  the  twelfth  century,  210 

Were  famihar  with  the  Bible,  211 

(39) 


582  GENERAL   INDEX. 

They  kept  the  Sabbath,  testimony  of 

Erasmus,  213 

Testimony  or  Jones,  314 

Testimony  of  Benedict,  315.  217 

Testimony  of  Purchase,  216 

Testimony  of  Mosheim,  217 

Of  Bishop  White,  218 

Wallis,  Jo7m,  D.  J). 
Wrote  in  reply  to  Bampfield  a  Seventh- 
day  Baptist,  1692-94  A.  D.,  836 

"  Wanted,  a  clear  view  concerninr/  Sim- 
day:'  458-462 

Wardner,  K,  D.  D. 
Personal  testimony  concerning  Ti-Ping 

Rebellion  and  the  Sabbath,  247 

Wednesday, 

Observance  in  early  church,  108,  110 

Testimony  of  Heylyn,  111 

Of  Coleman,  112 

OfNeander,  112 

Westminster  Confession. 
Doctrine  concerning  Sunday,  410 

White,  Bishop  Francis. 
Wrote  against  Seventh-day  Baptists  by 
Royal  authority  in  1635  A.  D.,  325,  326 

Whisky. 
Its  relation  to  the  Sunday  question,  504 

Possible  conflict  with  beer,  505,  511 

Wilkinson,  Prof.  W.  C. 
On    "Decay    of    Sunday     observance 
among  Christians,"  453-457 


GENERAL   INDEX.  583 

Y 


Teates. 
Concerning  Sabbath  observance  in  Ar- 
menia. 

Z 


230 


226 


Zaga  Zaho. 

Concerning  Sabbath  in  Abyssinia, 

Zicingli. 
Views  concerning  the  Sabbath,  25T 

Notes  on  Col.  2  :  16,  258 


